Social Distancing: Connecting our World together
Your grandparents were asked to fight a world war… you’re being asked to stay home and chill.. please don’t screw this up!!
Know about COVID 19
To prevent the spread of coronavirus, health officials have directed the public to practice ‘social distancing’. But do you know the definition of social distancing? ‘It is a set of non-pharmaceutical infection control actions intended to stop or slow down the spread of a contagious disease’. What does that mean? Simply put, it means that people stay far enough away from each other so that the virus or any pathogen cannot spread from one person to another. Now, why is it important? Let’s see.
According to WHO we are directed to follow these instructions:
- When someone coughs or sneezes they spray small liquid droplets from their nose or mouth which may contain the virus. If you are too close, you can breathe in the droplets, including the COVID-19 virus if the person coughing has the disease. hence, maintain 3–6 feet distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing.
- Stay at home if you begin to feel unwell, even with mild symptoms such as headache and a slight runny nose, until you recover. Avoiding contact with others and visits to medical facilities will allow these facilities to operate more effectively and help protect you and others from possible COVID-19 and other viruses.
- Stay home if you feel unwell. If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical attention and call in advance. Follow the directions of your local health authority. National and local authorities will have the most up to date information on the situation in your area. Calling in advance will allow your health care provider to quickly direct you to the right health facility. This will also protect you and help prevent the spread of viruses and other infections.
Next, let us discuss The Dos and Don’ts of ‘Social Distancing’.
DO avoid gatherings and try to stay at home.
You should avoid social gatherings groups of more than 10 people. The point is that the larger the gathering, the more difficult it is to control what each person touches, coughs or sneezes on, or licks. Restaurants, places of worship, movie theatres, libraries, sports venues, museums, playgrounds, malls and more have already started closing. I know it is hard to miss functions like weddings, funerals, alumni meetings, etc. But right now, staying home as much as possible is the best way to lower infection rates. Also avoid planning dates for your loved ones whether it be your significant other, children, friends or anyone in the family. Social distancing does not mean emotional distancing. You can always use different telecommunications methods to communicate. A study found that SARS-CoV-2 remained detectable on copper for up to four hours, on cardboard for up to 24 hours, and plastic and stainless steel for up to two to three days. Therefore, it is best to avoid all non-essential public locations for now. And no, Harry Styles is not going on a tour right now. STAY HOME.
DO stay at least six feet away from all other people.
The six feet limit is because respiratory droplets emitted
from a person’s nose or mouth by coughing, sneezing, and other activities can travel up to six feet in distance. This includes when you are in a line ( Keralites know what I mean), grocery shopping (say no to panic buying), waiting for areas at hospitals, at work and if possible even at home.
DON’T assume social distancing need not be with your loved ones.
No, you are neither a part of the Avengers nor you belong to Hogwarts. You don’t have the superpower to detect the virus or the magical spell to fight against it. The transmission of infectious diseases such as influenza is much higher among those within the same household versus those who are not. Hence keep a distance from your loved once physically and protect everyone in your house. Remember, anyone can fall victim to the disease without proper care and each member of your house is responsible for the life of others.
DON’T visit adults over 60 years of age.
They may be even more likely to have life-threatening outcomes from COVID-19, so you don’t want to accidentally infect them. This may be a time to step up your communications to make sure that your loved ones aren’t feeling too lonely or isolated. Video communications can help you better see them, which will be essential if they need medical care.
Try to avoid travelling and using public transports
Packing into a crowded, poorly ventilated subway car or bus, aeroplanes, trains, buses, and cruise ships can heighten your risk of infection. But some people don’t have a choice; they have to travel, work for airlines or trains or they’re travelling because they’re doing Covid-19 work (huge respect for them) or they can’t afford to not do their jobs. Practice as much social distancing as your work allows. Wash your hands constantly, and if your occupation requires it, wear a face mask. If you need to use public transportation to get to work, carry disinfecting wipes to clean seats and poles. Still, the fewer of us who travel, the safer. So try to work or learn from home. Schools and other educational institutions have been closed. Now is the right time to make the best use of modern technology. You can learn and work online. Platforms like ZOOM, Google classroom, Youtube will be helpful in this situation. However, make sure your children are not forced to do anything which can affect their mental health. The miles should not separate minds.
DON’T go to a health care facility unless necessary.
Cancel or postpone any health care appointment that is not essential and can’t be done remotely. This is not the time to get your teeth clean or your hair grow. Don’t assume that a clinic or hospital routinely disinfects everything. Don’t be offended if your doctor or other medical staff stands away from you as if you were the virus in human form. He or she is probably practising good social distancing.
DO wash and disinfect your hands if gone outside to a public place.
Keep your hands from touching your face and wash your hands as frequently as possible. Use hand sanitizer or disinfecting wipes if soap and water are not available.
DON’T let yourself starve or be without essential items and services.
Again social distancing does not mean cutting yourself off from society. Unless you are an alien, you still need food, proper medications, other products, and services. It is OK to go out to get what you need or order delivery but try to find situations that allow you to minimize contact with other people during the transactions. These are the golden rules of safe and ethical food delivery,
- Practice social distancing
- Throw out the packaging
- Wash your hands
- Tip well
- Support local businesses and order directly from the restaurant if you can.
Try to shop at times when there are very few other shoppers there. I think many people will rely on delivery. For delivery workers, leave the items on the doorstep and ring the bell, rather than interacting face-to-face with the person who’s ordered the particular product online. Make sure that the item is properly packaged. Disinfect or safely dispose of anything that may have been contaminated such as packaging materials.
DO realize there exists scientific evidence to support the use of social distancing.
Many studies have demonstrated that social distancing measures can be very effective in slowing the spread of respiratory viruses and reducing the number of people who ultimately get infected. Additionally, social distancing can ‘flatten the curve’. Flattening the curve refers to using protective practices to slow the rate of COVID-19 infection so hospitals have rooms, supplies, and doctors for all of the patients who need care.
As you can see, slowing the spread of the virus can reduce the number of cases per day thus flattening the epidemic curve, which is the number of cases per day overtime. The goal is to prevent the number of cases from exceeding the capacity of the health care system on any given day.
DON’T be a COVIDIOT!!!!
A stupid person who stubbornly ignores, criticize, defy, or ridicule ‘social distancing protocol’, thus helping to further spread Covid-19, is known as a Covidiot. They are not thinking scientifically and are not running the numbers on the number of deaths, and are not realizing that there is currently no alternative to slowing or curbing the pandemic. If you feel the need to say something like “they may take our lives but they will never take our freedom,” then let me tell you freedom is a state of mind. There are plenty of alternate ways to express your freedom rather than rebelling against social distancing. Social distancing is not just about keeping you from getting the virus. It is about keeping the virus from spreading in the population in general.
Avoid Panic buying
In no circumstance, hoard supplies of any commodity, shops will remain open and online delivery is also there.
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DO realize you are not alone.
Ironically, practising social distancing is about getting everyone to work together, just not physically together. Everyone is doing this to help the population as a whole. Remember social distancing is trying to keep your distance from other humans and not the trees, the wind, the sky, in short, it is not to keep your distance from beautiful gifts you possess. Just like the artificial intelligence revolution is forcing us to assess what work is most appropriate for humans, this sudden virtualization revolution will force us to redefine the foundations of our connectivity with others. Stanford University professor of psychology Jamil Zaki said, “Ironically, the same technologies we often blame for tearing apart our social fabric might be our best chance, now, of keeping it together.” We need to ask ourselves whether our core need for physical human connectivity can be at least partly met in other ways. As we wisely adopt physical social distancing we must simultaneously embrace virtual emotional closening. Here is a list of few things you can do online:
- Use ZOOM, Skype, Google Classroom, YouTube, etc to work and learn from home.
- Volunteer online to help the world win the battle against Corona. This can include coding, content writing, project management, brainstorming ideas, etc.
- Watch some movies and shows you have always wanted to. (Five Feet Apart is not recommended).
- Play online games with your friends including Ludo, Psych, DrawClassic, etc(go check it out! There’s plenty of fish in the sea!)
- Pick a new skill! How about learning a foreign language? (Chinese ain’t gonna help you contact the virus though).
- Text or call your friends with whom you haven’t talked for a while
Oh, wait! Too much time on the internet is not so good. So, here’s a list of things you can do offline:
- Read all those books that you had ghosted long before.
- Cook something new and win the MasterChef title! (Gordon Ramsay would be proud!)
- Explore your hidden talent and improve your skills. Write, sing, dance, draw or do anything you are passionate about. you will never get this time again.
- Organize your room.
- Meditate and Exercise or maybe something cooler? Do Zumba!
- Take care of your skin, hair, body, and basically yourself.
- Talk to the people around you!
- Play cards, scrabble or any other board games and have fun! (But not Monopoly, we don’t need another war right now.)
- Find yourself or recenter yourself. You have a lot of time to think! So think, think and think!
- Help the world spread awareness and practice social distancing.
How is it different from quarantine and isolation?
Isolation
For people who are confirmed to have COVID-19, isolation is appropriate. Isolation is a health care term that means keeping people who are infected with a contagious illness away from those who are not infected. Isolation can take place at home or in a hospital or care facility. Special personal protective equipment will be used to care for these patients in health care settings.
Self-quarantine
People who have been exposed to the new coronavirus and who are at risk for coming down with COVID-19 might practice self-quarantine. Health experts recommend that self-quarantine lasts 14 days. Self-quarantine involves:
- Using standard hygiene and washing hands frequently
- Not sharing things like towels and utensils
- Staying at home
- Not having visitors
- Staying at least 6 feet away from other people in your household.
Mandatory quarantine.
A mandatory quarantine occurs when government authorities indicate that a person must stay in one place, for instance, their home or a facility, for 14 days. Mandatory quarantines can be ordered for people who test negative for the virus but have likely been exposed.
India’s social distancing measures in view of the spread of COVID-19 disease.
Several interventions including the above-mentioned DOS and DONT’S were proposed by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare which were to be followed until March 31, 2020. The govt had advised citizens to avoid non-essential travel abroad. Govt has strongly advised against travelling to China, Italy, Iran, the Republic of Korea, Japan, France, Spain, and Germany. India has suspended e-visas issued to nationals of France, Germany, and Spain. Even regular visas issued to foreign nationals who have travelled to coronavirus affected countries have been suspended. On March 10, 58 Indians were brought back home from coronavirus-hit Iran in a military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF). However as the condition worsened, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi on Tuesday, 24 March 2020, announced with folded hands a nationwide lockdown till 21 days i.e., three weeks. “Just do one thing, stay at home! Today’s decision of countrywide lockdown has drawn a Lakshman Rekha around the door of your house,” said PM Modi on national lockdown. He further explains the need for a national lockdown, “It took 67 days for the first lakh people to be infected from coronavirus. It only took 11 days for the next 1 lakh to be infected. Even more scary is the fact that it took only four days for the figure to rise to 3 lakhs,” said PM Modi. He also mentioned that the lockdown will have economic cost but will save lives which should be the priority of every government. He also thanked every citizen who made the March 22 Janta Curfew successful. The Janata curfew was a 14-hour curfew (7 am-9 pm) that was scheduled for 22 March 2020. Everyone except people of ‘essential services’ such as police, medical services, media, home delivery professionals and firefighters were needed to take part in the curfew. At 5 pm, all citizens were asked to stand in their doorways, balconies or windows, and clap their hands or ring their bells in appreciation for the professionals delivering these essential services. Coronavirus has so far affected India’s manufacturing and export sectors. The government said it was taking all necessary steps to protect the Indian industry from the threat. India, after staying relatively unscathed for a while, is finally witnessing the dread setting in. Hence, hopefully, the practice of social distance will gradually increase and taken seriously by the citizens.
Social distancing can never prevent 100% of transmissions, but abiding by the simple rules, individuals can play a critical role in slowing and curbing the spread of the coronavirus. With the COVID-19 coronavirus continuing to spread and no vaccine or specific treatment yet available, social distancing is the main available way to slow the pandemic by making it more difficult for the virus to spread from person to person. During a pandemic, it will be critical to understanding what you may be asked or required to do. It will be important to follow any Public Health social distancing instructions. So please stay informed and plan ahead. Don’t let the doomsday arrive on our planet earth! Staying home is not a curfew, it is, in fact, care for you. Hence everyone must practice social distancing in order to prevent a tidal wave of cases. Also, let us take a moment to thank all the heroes who have been working fearlessly while we practice social distancing. Now did you know this coronavirus has a very big ego? He will never come to your house unless you go out and invite him. So, let us stay home for our loved ones, our countrymen, our saviours who stayed at work for us and our world. And that way the world will come together as the people stay apart.
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