Researchers say that COVID-19 has been rapidly spreading due to the movements of people with no or very mild symptoms. Those who are unaware that they have the virus continually move around especially. That is why social distancing is so important when it comes to combating coronavirus. The main question concerning health officials was how has the coronavirus been spreading so quickly around the globe and why is this happening even with increasing travel bans and restrictions?
UC San Francisco epidemiologist Jeff Martin says “Social distancing will be the key phrase in the days and weeks to come. The term simply refers to avoiding close contact with other individuals in order to avoid catching the virus yourself and to avoid passing it on.” Many factors contribute to the so-called reproductive number of the new coronavirus, which describes roughly how many people an infected individual will go on to infect. Which is estimated to range from 1.4 to 6.5, with an average of 3.3. The higher this reproductive number the faster the virus will spread. Some factors that affect the reproductive number include how inherently contagious the virus is, how susceptible people are to infection, the number of contacts between people, and lastly the duration of the contact.
Social distancing in daily life means banning large gatherings, encouraging telecommuting and closing schools, and no crowded public transit if possible. Social activities are now discouraged and if you are 60 or overstaying home, in general, is recommended. According to the President’s Coronavirus Guidelines for America is that everyone should avoid social gatherings of more than 10 people and avoid eating or drinking out at restaurants, bars, or food courts. If a person in your household is tested positive for coronavirus your whole family should stay at home and not go anywhere.
At the beginning I believed that we could all social distance, and wear masks if we needed to go anywhere, if it meant we could all be back to pretty much normal in a couple weeks. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Who could have guessed social distancing would be so hard. It hasn’t gotten any easier, despite it being nine months since it all started. Social distancing is still so important, even though we are back to sports and school (at least in Utah) corona is still spreading. We just got back from break and already there are so many cases around me. I wonder if they wished they would have social distanced a little more…
You know social distancing became a new phrase to me in 2020. I believe that you perfectly explained what it is and how to accomplish it. In the second paragraph, you quoted someone who said that social distancing would be a key factor over the next few days and weeks. I think that that is crazy because here we are 9 months later in a different year and we are still socially distancing. I believe that most of the world believed that it would just pass and COVID-19 would go away in two weeks. I think you did an amazing job of explaining what social distancing is, even back in March. The beginning of one of the worst years for a lot of people.
Social distancing is a phrase I have come come to absolutely despise, and I am assuming so have many other people. Nevertheless, it has become the new normal. We have been forced to connect with each other through alternative methods, and also come to appreciate the regularities of normal life. In a profound way though, I believe that the pandemic has brought us together because it has affected every human being. It is now an experience that these generations will share and reflect on for years to come. It has highlighted that despite being physically apart, we stand together as a human race amidst the inevitable pains, joys and sufferings. see picture 35 on Now Comment.
We’ve all heard the term “social distancing”, but I don’t think enough people know what it means or what its purpose is. It is far more than some suggestion that people stay apart, and it is’nt some half-baked plan to try and keep the virus at bay. It is a tried and true process that, if properly enforced, will drastically decrease case numbers. I’ve attached an article that talks about what is proven from social distancing and quarantining. It talks about past outbreaks and pandemics and the roles of these measures in keeping numbers low.
https://asm.org/Articles/2020/April/The-Science-of-Social-Distancing
COVID-19 obviously is the story that dominated 2020, and likely will continue to be the pivotal event of 2021 too. This virus has fundamentally impacted everything in society, whether that be school, concerts, and events, or the entire global economy. The virus’s impact will likely be felt for generations to come.
This article discusses the guidelines put into place by the United States government as a result of the coronavirus. When this was written, March 30th, people took social distancing, staying home, and wearing masks quite seriously as compared to right now. I find this ironic because there were much fewer cases and reported deaths at the time compared to today. The holiday’s helped to create a surge in cases because people were traveling and holding large gatherings in closed quarters without masks. These things go against the idea of social distancing, which is discussed at the beginning of the third paragraph. The fact that some people don’t believe in this virus or continuously break social distancing rules sickens me, especially after seeing on the news how hard healthcare workers are working right now. The range of infection rates mentioned in the second paragraph also surprised me.