What Is Social Distancing? How Staying Away From Others Can Help Stop The Coronavirus Spread. Coronavirus Tips Social Distancing

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Judie Shape (left) who has tested positive for COVID-19, waves at her daughter, Lori Spencer at Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington, on Wednesday.

The , meaning the deadly virus is spreading outer containment measures in multiple countries about the world.

"Pandemic is not a word to be used lightly," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.

"All countries can still change the course of this pandemic,” he added.

One of the biggest measures society state officials have urged countries to adopt in order to change that course and halt the spread of the virus is called social distancing — a somewhat cloudy term that is suddenly popping up everywhere in news stories.

So, what does social distancing mean, exactly?

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A passenger looks at the departures board at Zurich Airport, March 10.

Put simply, social distancing involves staying away from other people in order to avoid catching or spreading a virus. It’s a fancy term for avoiding crowds. That could mean working from dwelling rather than catching a train to the office, avoiding concerts or weddings, or skipping that half marathon you’ve been training for.

“Social distancing involves minimizing exposure to infected individuals by avoiding great society gathering venues, adhering to spacing requirements in the workplace, and following proper personal hygiene practices,” advises the itself has been scrapped.

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There’s a bunch we still don’t know about the coronavirus outbreak. Our newsletter Outbreak Today will perform its finest to put everything we perform know in one place — you can ).

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Remember, this isn’t , “The finest way to prevent ‘community spread’ is to spread out the community. That means keeping people apart.”

How effective has social distancing been in the past?

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A spectator-free soccer match Wednesday in Germany.

According to a for two weeks did not approach too late, according to Chowell. Given the great cluster of cases in Seattle, it also doesn’t mean other US cities essential immediately follow suit. “The situation in Seattle is very different to what many other cities are experiencing correct now,” he said.

What could happen if we don’t enact social distancing?

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The 1918 procession in Philadelphia.

One big example often used for the power of social distancing is from the 1918 flu pandemic, where officials in two cities — Philadelphia and St. Louis — handled the crisis in two starkly different ways.

Philadelphia went ahead with a planned World War I procession on Sept. 28 that year, with 200,000 people cramming city streets. Officials didn’t want locals to panic by canceling the parade, noting that the influenza outbreak was mostly limited to military camps at the time.

But the impact of that many people crowded together passing about a deadly virus was swift.

Within three days, every clinic bed in the city’s 31 hospitals was occupied with a flu patient, according to in a 2007 paper that used historical data to compare how the two cities used social distancing during the flu epidemic.

So can I go outside? Can I perceive other people?

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A woman wearing a protective mask pushes a shopping trolley in Rome on Wednesday.

In short, sure — to an extent.

Social distancing doesn’t mean you need to shelter in a bunker for two weeks, but you perform need to be smart about the number of people you’re interacting with.

Read: — and why Chowell himself said he, too, has a new rule.

“I have reviewed the number of meetings that I have, particularly meetings that involve more than two people,” he said, “and I am only conducting those meetings online.”

 

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