Social Distancing -- What Does It Mean?

Social distancing seems like a new buzzword to me. Like a gently, gently word for 'keep away from others', but I wanted to understand more about what it meant, both outside and inside the home. This phrase is being bandied a lot and apparently it's really important and absolutely imperative to flattening the curve to ensure our healthcare system isn’t so overwhelmed.

The PDF from the Australian Government website says:

What is social distancing?

"One way to help slow the spread of viruses such as COVID-19 is social distancing. This means avoiding large public gatherings if they’re not essential and reducing visits to people at higher risk of developing serious symptoms, such as people in residential care facilities and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. There’s no need to change your daily routine, but taking these social distancing precautions can help protect the people in our community who are most at risk."

https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2020/03/coronavirus-covid-19-frequently-asked-questions_0.pdf

So not visiting grandma, grandad and not going to a concert. But I wanted to know more. As an aside, if social distancing is so important, why is the description of exactly what it entails limited to just one paragraph?

I found this article online: https://www.nytimes.com./2020/03/13/parenting/social-distancing-coronavirus.html It's a paywall, hence the period after the com in the address.

“Many people are starting to talk about social distancing as a strategy to combat the virus, which means limiting activities outside the home to obtaining health care, acquiring food and essential supplies and going to work, if working from home isn’t an option. This approach most likely sounds novel to many, and possibly even draconian to some, but it is very familiar to me.

And it works.

I should know. I am a physician who practiced social distancing for 18 months to protect my premature babies.

The concept is simple: Those practicing social distancing should stay home as much as possible and look to keep a gap of six feet or more between themselves and others if they do leave the house. The reasoning: Fewer interactions with people and the added distance when you must interact means less chance of exposure and hence infection with the virus. If you do get infected, social distancing lowers your chance of spreading the infection to someone else.”

So, keeping a six feet gap between yourself and others if you must leave the house. Alright, I guess that means no packed public transport and if I have interactions with people outside the house, keep a gap of six feet or more.

But this only speaks to outside the house, what about inside the house?

From the same article:

“How did I do it?

I never shook hands, I nodded and smiled.

I used a lot of hand sanitizer — getting a twin stroller laden with oxygen tanks in and out of a public bathroom made hand washing a challenge. Hospitals have plenty of free-standing hand hygiene stations, but typically no sinks for hand washing in public areas. (Take note, hospital architects.)

Grocery shopping took place primarily late at night, long after my partner came home. It was my only break from parenting and medical care. It felt like a luxury to walk the quiet aisles and chat — with a little added distance between me and the cashier — at check out.

Everyone who entered the house — whether medical professional, friend or family — was required to be fully vaccinated and to either use hand sanitizer at the door or head straight to the bathroom to wash their hands. If someone was offended, it would not have registered. That was simply the rule.

We declined visits from people with children in day care or school. A few were upset, but if being insulted about their child’s runny nose being a potential cause of death for my children was an issue, frankly, we weren’t meant to be friends.

And these measures aren’t just for the medically vulnerable like my boys — social distancing slows the spread of a virus in communities. The risk with viruses like the new coronavirus isn’t just that people will get sick and some will die. This coronavirus is transmitted easily — even from people with few or no symptoms — so many may get sick at once, overwhelming the health care system.

The consequences are potentially dire. People who might have recovered from the virus may die because they are unable to get the critical care they need. Those with other noncoronavirus-related illnesses may not get the assistance they need as medical resources are diverted to respond to the coronavirus.

During our 18 months of social distancing, I kept two weeks’ worth of food at home in case one of us got sick. Assuming most illnesses run their course in a week or less, this was enough backup so the sick parent could quarantine in the basement and the other wouldn’t have to take the boys to the grocery store.

Social distancing is a privilege, but it shouldn’t be. It should be supported by the government as a public health measure. The faster and the more efficiently a society can practice social distancing in the face of a viral pandemic, the less severe the eventual impact for everyone.

What happened when my family finally ended social distancing and took that last big step — interaction with other children?

Within a week, Oliver was in the hospital with pneumonia and back on oxygen. It was devastating to see him so ill, but it made me realize that our strategy of social distancing was effective and worth all the effort.”

All bolded emphasis is mine.

Public health experts have talked about what social distancing means with your partner. This article is a guide https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/03/coronavirus-what-does-social-distancing-mean/607927/

SHOULD I LIMIT PHYSICAL INTERACTION WITH MY PARTNER, OR OTHER PEOPLE I LIVE WITH?

Ko: That’s really hard to do. Again, what we’re really worried about is large gatherings. In the home, close contact is almost inevitable.

Cannuscio: I would say if you’re in a steady, monogamous relationship and you and that other person are limiting your social contacts, then be as intimate as you want to be.

Watson: If you get sick, try to maintain some distance. Otherwise, households should go about their normal business.

This guide might help others answer some questions about social distancing. Hope it helps. If anyone else has guides to social distancing, please post them up.