That's also interesting. Doing a quick google search I see that many believe 40 (days, etc.) in the bible is often related to a time of testing. This can be related to the period need for "transformation, great change, new life, new growth," as well as to a period of testing for disease.
Yes other related quarantine fact:
For early Christians the beggar Lazarus was the patron saint of lepers, and hospices for them (and later for plague victims) were called •Lazarettos.•
The Christian imagination permeated every dimension of life.