# Poll: Should we retire the Quarantine Zone? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [January 16, 2024, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-should-we-retire-the-quarantine-zone/996173 "2024-01-16T16:49:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ed\_Zotti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/fbc32d/32.png) [@Ed\_Zotti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ed_Zotti)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-should-we-retire-the-quarantine-zone/996173/1 "2024-01-16T16:49:29Z")
We launched the Quarantine Zone at the start of the pandemic, when the coronavirus was the chief topic of discussion. Now that the crisis has ebbed, QZ gets minimal traffic and the staff is debating what to do with it. We have no plans to delete QZ threads, but we might want to move them to one or more other forums - we’re investigating how much trouble this would be. Alternatively, we could just close QZ to new posts. (Covid questions could still be posted to other forums.) We’ll figure out the details later - the first step is to decide whether we should make any change at all. To help us figure this out, we encourage the Teeming Millions to vote in the poll below, and elaborate on your opinion in this thread. The poll is advisory but if there’s a clear preference we want to know about it. Thanks! _Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-should-we-retire-the-quarantine-zone/996173/1))_ ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-should-we-retire-the-quarantine-zone/996173/2 "2024-01-16T18:36:15Z")
You want to start a new pandemic? Because this is how you do it. Guaranteed, the day after you close it, there will be some new one announced. Seriously, I don’t much care between leaving it as-is and closing it to new posts. But I do think removing it entirely and moving threads elsewhere would be a mistake. Beyond all the effort deciding where each thread sits, I think it’s an interesting time capsule of what we were discussing during that time. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-should-we-retire-the-quarantine-zone/996173/3 "2024-01-16T18:39:36Z")
I have to ask, what’s the downside of leaving it alone? What’s the upside of retiring it? I’m all about cost/benefit so I’d like to see how this proposal shapes up in those terms. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-should-we-retire-the-quarantine-zone/996173/4 "2024-01-16T18:46:12Z")
Noting that the Covid pandemic is still ongoing. Although arguably, that has little to do with this board’s _discussion_ of it. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-should-we-retire-the-quarantine-zone/996173/5 "2024-01-16T18:48:02Z")
What harm is there is keeping it as is? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-should-we-retire-the-quarantine-zone/996173/6 "2024-01-16T18:48:47Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > You want to start a new pandemic? Because this is how you do it. Nah. The new pandemic is due 2118. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-should-we-retire-the-quarantine-zone/996173/7 "2024-01-16T18:52:02Z")
Would it maybe be a good idea to repurpose it as a health/illness related forum? Seems like as we age, we’re seeing more and more threads like that anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-should-we-retire-the-quarantine-zone/996173/8 "2024-01-16T18:52:19Z")
Close it, lock it, but keep its rotting corpse visible to serve as a warning to future generations. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-should-we-retire-the-quarantine-zone/996173/9 "2024-01-16T18:57:58Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > I don’t much care between leaving it as-is and closing it to new posts. But I do think removing it entirely and moving threads elsewhere would be a mistake. Beyond all the effort deciding where each thread sits, I think it’s an interesting time capsule of what we were discussing during that time. Seconding that. Also, doing that would leave it easily re-openable if needed in the future; possibly re-naming it to include whatever’s up next, unless we decided to start a separate forum for that. We certainly would need, as the OP suggested, current threads in other forums; because, as has been noted, this thing is still around and isn’t going away. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-should-we-retire-the-quarantine-zone/996173/10 "2024-01-16T19:16:30Z")
At a glance, the forum still seems relatively active. No reason to close it while it’s still in use, unless there’s a feeling that its existence is a strain on the mod staff and life would be easier for them if we rolled its activity into the other fora. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-should-we-retire-the-quarantine-zone/996173/11 "2024-01-16T19:21:27Z")
I never visit that particular forum, so I’m generally ambivalent about it. But I think that moving the threads to other forums would be confusing and ruin the cohesiveness of the QZ. I’d suggest making it a “read only” forum. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-should-we-retire-the-quarantine-zone/996173/12 "2024-01-16T19:41:09Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > What harm is there is keeping it as is? Mostly just that it’s another forum to scroll through when you look at the list of forums. There’s no special moderation burden, because it doesn’t currently get many threads, and those threads would need to be moderated wherever they lived. > [@bump](#): > > Would it maybe be a good idea to repurpose it as a health/illness related forum? Seems like as we age, we’re seeing more and more threads like that anyway. I kinda like this idea. We have an awful lot of colonoscopy threads… ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-should-we-retire-the-quarantine-zone/996173/13 "2024-01-16T19:45:58Z")
Although we probably enough threads for it, I don’t really want to be known as a message board with a dedicated forum for everyone’s health issues. I prefer having them in with other IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-should-we-retire-the-quarantine-zone/996173/14 "2024-01-16T19:46:01Z")
We won’t have another pandemic soon, but I think we need to brace for the Pandamic, where black and white bears from China run rampant through our cities, seeking blood and bamboo. …In all seriousness though, hopefully there will never be another need for the QZ again. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-should-we-retire-the-quarantine-zone/996173/15 "2024-01-16T19:54:47Z")
We should definitely not endorse, even implicitly, the solicitation of health advice. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-should-we-retire-the-quarantine-zone/996173/16 "2024-01-16T19:54:53Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Mostly just that it’s another forum to scroll through when you look at the list of forums. > > There’s no special moderation burden, because it doesn’t currently get many threads, and those threads would need to be moderated wherever they lived. In the end, I am in favor of making the Mod’s life easier. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-should-we-retire-the-quarantine-zone/996173/17 "2024-01-16T19:58:02Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > I’d suggest making it a “read only” forum. This would be my call as well. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-should-we-retire-the-quarantine-zone/996173/18 "2024-01-16T19:59:21Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > In the end, I am in favor of making the Mod’s life easier. That’s probably “leave it as is”. > [@Telemark](#): > > > [@Superdude](#): > > > > I’d suggest making it a “read only” forum. > > This would be my call as well. I doubt this is possible, without someone manually closing every thread. So i don’t like this idea. 😉 > [@TroutMan](#): > > Although we probably enough threads for it, I don’t really want to be known as a message board with a dedicated forum for everyone’s health issues. I prefer having them in with other IMHO. Good point. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-should-we-retire-the-quarantine-zone/996173/19 "2024-01-16T20:48:35Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > I prefer having them in with other IMHO 100% agree. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-should-we-retire-the-quarantine-zone/996173/20 "2024-01-16T22:02:28Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > In the end, I am in favor of making the Mod’s life easier. Yeah, when we need it again, we can always restart it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-should-we-retire-the-quarantine-zone/996173.md?page=2)