Cordon Sanitaire

A containment measure that can be used to stop the spread of a virus. It involves placing checkpoints outside an area where an infection has been registered, and nobody is allowed in or out

This public health term comes from a French word meaning a “health cordon.” Cordons sanitaires were used notably in Wuhan, China, and Italy when COVID-19 began spreading globally. While these measures were criticized for being heavy-handed, they did significantly slow down the spread of the novel coronavirus.

 

Categories:

Epidemiology Infectious Disease Prevention Transmission

Cross-reference:

Containment measuresCOVID-19Novel coronavirusVirusSARS-CoV-2