How Does Each Country Enforce Quarantine?

The novel Coronavirus has caused a global pandemic and widespread quarantine. The disease does not discriminate between borders. So how do two countries vary in how they deal with those disregarding stay-at-home orders?

How America Enforces Quarantine

Surprisingly, America does not have a federal lockdown or anything of the sort. Instead, it has federal social distancing guidelines until April 30th. Most stay-at-home orders are state-enforced. Counties, states, and cities could all have different orders for what is allowed during this pandemic.

The most legal enforcement as of now is possible arrest and a second-degree misdemeanor charge for breaking quarantine in Florida. Other areas may have the same punishment.

Shockingly, people are also protesting stay at home orders, despite the danger of the virus. In downtown San Diego, hundreds of people protested stay-at-home orders in a so-called “Freedom Rally.” The organizer of this rally faces arrest and possible charges. Additionally, quarantine protests extend eastward to Sara Walton Brady and a group of others who went to a playground that was closed to avoid large gatherings. The group trespassed by removing the tape that gated off the area. Brady was asked multiple times to leave before facing arrest.

On the other hand, enforcement of stay-at-home guidelines differs for those actually infected with the Coronavirus. An infected person could be forced into medical isolation, whether at home or in a hospital ward. For example, a 53-year-old man in Kentucky refused to self-quarantine even after infection. So, armed police guards were posted outside his house to ensure he followed the order.

Essentially, enforcement varies heavily from area-to-area in the United States.

India

In contrast to America, India has resorted to more unorthodox methods of keeping people in their homes. The country has hundreds of millions of people, so these forceful methods are justified in the eyes of the law. After all, thousands of lives are stake, possibly more.

A “lathi” is one of the ways Indian police dissuade people outside during this pandemic. A “lathi” is an iron-bound bamboo stick. The police use it to break up crowds and to hit resistant citizens.

Interestingly, police also force offending citizens to exercise. People do sit-ups, push-ups, and squats in public places as punishment.

Overall, India seems to have taken a much more aggressive course of action to limit exposure to this virus.

Takeaway

Coronavirus will hit India hard, considering the country’s large population and dire lack of medical supplies. According to the New York Times, India has fewer than 100,000 ICU beds and 20,000 ventilators. That’s a ratio of hundreds of thousands of supplies to billions of people. India simply is in a worse place than America in terms of dealing with this pandemic. Hence, the lockdown has been much stricter in India. As for America, there is a shortage of some supplies to some degree, but the situation does not even begin to compare to India’s. Obviously, the matter of which is a better way to handle this situation is that of an opinion. However, context matters.