The practice of quarantine, or physical isolation, we use in times of mass sickness was initiated about 700 years ago in a Venetian port city. It remains the best scientific and all-round defense we have against pandemics. In the early stages of a viral attack, all we can do is distance ourselves to keep safe from infection.
The Black Death killed 20 million people in Europe over four years. Back then, there was no scientific understanding of contagion. By observation, people believed the spread of the deadly disease had something to do with physical proximity. Venetians were a ruling port dynasty at the time. The intelligent Venetian authority of the port city of Ragusa mandated newly arriving sailors to isolate themselves for 30 days to prove healthiness before being allowed to socialize. This ruling became known as “trentino,” referring to a 30-day span. Gradually, the isolation period would extend to 40 days, “quarantino.”
Scientific and medical advancements by capitalist endeavor have failed, over the last century, to protect and secure against such tragic epidemics and pandemics. We require a longer period today to come out of a pandemic than last century. Our most efficient defense mechanism, physical isolation for a given period or quarantine, stands 700 years old!
