This review assesses the effects of quarantine (alone or in combination with other measures) of individuals who had contact with confirmed cases of COVID‐19, who traveled from countries with a declared outbreak, or who live in regions with high transmission of the disease.

The authors examined 29 studies located from PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, WHO Global Index Medicus, Embase, and CINAHL on February 12, 2020 and March 12, 2020.

Of these studies, 10 were modelling studies on COVID‐19, 4 were observational studies, and 15 were modelling studies on SARS and MERS.

Although current evidence for COVID‐19 is limited, findings from this review indicate that quarantine is important in reducing incidence and mortality during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Early implementation of quarantine and combining quarantine with other public health measures is important to ensure effectiveness.