From blanket quarantine in Wuhan to distant centralized quarantine in Shijiazhuang: the evolution of China's COVID-19 quarantine approach

With COVID-19 spreading globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020. COVID-19 swept many countries and regions worldwide. An effective response to COVID-19 requires newer and more creative tools. In this paper, we discussed the evolution of China’s COVID-19 quarantine approach, compared the blanket quarantine in Wuhan and the distant centralized quarantine in rural areas of Shijiazhuang, and analyzed the important issues which authorities will have to pay attention to ensure success from the moment they begin to take close contacts to the single room isolation in a distant quarantine center. The large-scale distant centralized quarantine strategy in Shijiazhuang cut off the transmission of COVID-19 within 1 month. This strategy may inform other countries and regions of a feasible and effective approach to combat the global pandemic of COVID-19.