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I just got back from the Netherlands and read a notice on the CDC web site that says I "must" self quarantine for 14 days.

I guess I don't understand. I think the Netherlands has 2 cases and my home state of New Hampshire has 6. So, the logic is what? I am potentially infected and the rest of New Hampshire is not. I mean if New Hampshire has more cases than the Netherlands, doesn't that mean every one of the 1.4 million people in New Hampshire should "self quarantine"?

What is the logic here?

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Tyler Durden
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    Please cite this notice from the CDC. I'm closing your question until you do. – Carey Gregory Mar 16 '20 at 03:56
  • @CareyGregory The "self quarantine" for the Netherlands and other EU countries has been widely publicized. Official notices are here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/after-travel-precautions.html. Also: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/warning/coronavirus-europe. Note that this latest bulletin just linked yesterday said "must" yesterday (Sunday). Today, Monday, it reads "should", it was edited sometime late last night. – Tyler Durden Mar 16 '20 at 10:27
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    The Netherlands already has 1500 cases and it is growing fast. But the government is finally taking solid action. – Toon Krijthe Mar 16 '20 at 15:11
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    For more information about the disease in the Netherlands (in Dutch): https://www.rivm.nl/coronavirus-kaart-van-nederland – Toon Krijthe Mar 16 '20 at 20:40

2 Answers2

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You're missing two points:

First, as of today, the Netherlands had 1413 cases.

Second, the Netherlands is part of the Schengen Area. Because of the ease of movement within the area, the US government is treating the entire Area as as single unit for quarantine purposes. (Collectively, the area has about 60,000 cases.)

Mark
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At this time (17-March-2020) the state of New Hampshire has not found evidence of community transmission of the virus, and all 13 cases are associated with overseas travel.

You have travelled in from overseas where there is community transmission so the possibility is much higher that you have been infected. The infected in the pre-symptomatic phase are still highly contagious spreading virus just by breathing based on small studies so far.

Once community transmission is detected then it may be too late to start isolating people from out of state, and the whole state may need to go into self isolation as was done in China.

https://patch.com/new-hampshire/concord-nh/nh-officials-order-all-schools-be-shuttered-due-covid-19

Graham Chiu
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