Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Double Border-Screening Strategy with and without Quarantine in the Prevention of COVID-19

Most countries have applied varied testing and containment measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic due to the lack of a single recommended preventive approach. Given the 14-day incubation period and the possibility of asymptomatic disease transmission, quarantine and follow-up testing procedures for incoming travelers represent a model strategy to prevent (re)-introduction of SARS-CoV-2 into countries with sustained control of the disease. In this study, we aim to analyze the effectiveness of two strategies used in Northern Cyprus to control the COVID-19 pandemic; double border-screening strategy by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with and without quarantine, using a statistical approach. A daily number of COVID-19 cases was obtained, and skewness and kurtosis analysis was applied. The independent-sample t-test and Levene’s test were used to determine differences between the two defined groups and test the equality of variances. The results show that the strategy of double RT-PCR testing with quarantine and follow-up RT-PCR test post quarantine last border entry has significant effects in controlling the total number of cases compared to double border screening only.