Spencer Paterick `21 Assistant Editor
Social distancing is the key to beating COVID-19, but what does that even mean?
While social distancing does not mean total isolation, it will result in major changes in one’s day-to-day routine. Social distancing is defined as a set of measures taken to prevent the spread of contagious diseases and viruses by maintaining a physical distance between people and reducing the number of times people come into close contact with each other.
The U.S. government is advising that citizens only go out of their houses in order to obtain necessary items such as groceries and medicine, but to avoid unnecessary contact with others. As of now, President Trump has extended the stay-at-home advisory until April 30.
By following these social distancing measures, it’s believed people will be able to return to normal life in a shorter amount of time.
China went from reporting thousands of cases a day in mid-February to just five new cases in the last week. If this is true, the rest of the world can utilize similar methods of strict social distancing and isolation measures.
But China did not achieve this by maintaining the status quo. Those infected with the virus were immediately put in quarantine to be treated, and those who were being tested were also forced to be quarantined until their results came back negative. This meant that those who were potentially infected would not spread the disease to an even larger number of people. China also implemented a strict stay-at-home order for all citizens.
The U.S. Surgeon General said that this week (beginning April 5) will likely be the worst week in the U.S., in terms of deaths as a result of COVID-19. This may seem grim but the only way to ensure that the country recovers from this is to continue to practice social distancing. While doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers continue to treat patients, people in the country must do their part to make sure that we reduce the impact of this virus.
People need to stay at home and avoid as much contact as possible This should be easy considering that we live in the most technologically advanced time in history. It shouldn’t be that hard to find something to do around the house. It is the perfect opportunity to do simple things like read a book and watch a movie. Social distancing saves lives.