Quarantine and the Holy Week

It is Holy Week once again, and for the second consecutive year, we are spending it in Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), to arrest the relentless surge of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases.

Did you know that the term "quarantine" has maritime origins? It began as the practice of detaining ships before allowing them to land their passengers, cargo, or crew. American maritime historian Lincoln Paine traces the practice of quarantine to the decades following the Black Death (1346-53) in the maritime cities of southern Europe.