Understanding Individual Perception and Experience of Fear during Mandatory Quarantine: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ghana

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has manifested differently across the globe in terms of its sociocultural and economic impacts. The World Health Organization (WHO) developed guidelines for the effective implementation of local or national quarantine protocols to quickly detect people who have been exposed to COVID-19 and separate them from others during the disease’s incubation period. This paper examines how Ghanaians perceive and experience fear under quarantine in the various designated quarantine centres (Pentecost Community Centre and Pram-pram Convention Centre).

Drawing on the interpretive inquiry lens, data were collected through phone/Skype interviews with six individuals who had been quarantined with experience to share. Interpretative Phenomenology Approach (IPA) for data analysis was used to interpret the views and experience of participants under quarantine and how that affected their well-being. Using the WHO quarantine guidelines, our analyses focused on an individual’s experience of fear under quarantine, offering an insight into what characterises their fear as well as exploring events, coping strategies and the implementation of standard quarantine protocols in the country.

The results showed that the quarantine protocols aligned with the WHO guidelines, albeit with some exceptions; these omissions partly compounded the fear experienced by those who were quarantined in the various centres. The results help to reveal the specific events that led to fear. For example, the fear of being infected by others at the quarantine centres, the unknown duration of the quarantine, the potential loss of lives and the uncertainty of recovery. The participants managed their fearful experiences and tension at the quarantine centres by coming together to pray every morning, share the word of God and engage in jokes. This paper contributes to issues of distinct emotions and individual viewpoints under mandatory quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic in a specific country context.