Social distancing is good for the community, and a crucial preventative measure. But what is social distancing, exactly?
Photo: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images As COVID-19 continues to spread across the world, public-health recommendations grow more stringent: Italy is currently on lockdown, while in the United States, several states have declared states of emergency, schools are closing, events are being canceled, and stockpiling continues. Healthy citizens’ movements remain largely unrestricted, and confirmed cases in the U.S. appear relatively low.
Social distancing refers to a public-health protection measure meant to reduce and slow transmission of disease. Currently, social distancing is neither required nor enforced in the United States, though sick people are expected to self-quarantine and seek medical help. But as a recent Vox graph shows, protective measures like self-quarantine and canceled events can vastly reduce the number of COVID-19 cases, and experts say it’s one of the best public-health measures we have.
By avoiding other, potentially sick people, we reduce our own risk for contracting and spreading illness at the same time that other people are getting sick, thus reducing the demand on hospitals and health-care workers. Health-care workers have more time and resources to find vaccines and treatments when they aren’t entirely occupied with trying to keep sick people from dying.
The bottom line is this: Social distancing is good for the community, and a crucial preventative measure — if not entirely without complications.Social distancing is a scary prospect for most people, and it’s hard to know — without strict, aggressive measures like those under way in Italy and China — what exactly “counts.
Available evidence from other countries suggest that the United States is underprepared, at best, for the transmission of COVID-19, and we have no reason to think ourselves exempt. Without universal health care and paid sick leave, not everyone will be able to comply with best public-health practices or get the care they need. These vulnerabilities makes social distancing all the more important for those who are able to do so — starting right now.
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