OAKHAN: MAINTAIN SOCIAL DISTANCE

SOCIAL DISTANCING – DO’S AND DON’T’S

The word Social Distancing is the hot topic at the moment, be it government announcements, social media or the law enforcement agencies all talking about, it a means of survival. let’s see what it actually means. Social distancing, or physical distancing, is a set of infection control actions intended to stop or slow down the spread of a contagious disease. The objective of social distancing is to reduce the probability of contact between persons carrying an infection, and others who are not infected, so as to minimize disease transmission, morbidity and ultimately mortality.

With the spread of COVID-19 the importance of social distancing has become an essential element of our lives. Social distancing is most effective when an infection can be transmitted via droplet contact (coughing or sneezing); direct physical contact, including sexual contact; indirect physical contact (e.g., by touching a contaminated surface); or airborne transmission (if the microorganism can survive in the air for long periods). It may be less effective in cases where an infection is transmitted primarily via contaminated water or food or by vectors such as mosquitoes or other insects and less frequently from person to person. Drawbacks of social distancing can include loneliness, reduced productivity and the loss of other benefits associated with human interaction. Historically, leper colonies and lazarettos were established as a means of preventing the spread of leprosy and other contagious diseases through social distancing, until transmission was understood and effective treatments invented.

Measures

In modern world Social distancing measures used to control the spread of contagious illnesses like COVID-19 include:

· School closure (proactive or reactive)

· Workplace closure, including closure of "non-essential" businesses and social services ("Non-essential" means those facilities that do not maintain primary functions in the community, as opposed to essential services.

· Isolation.

· Quarantine

· Cordon sanitaire

· Protective sequestration

· Cancellation of mass gatherings such as sports events, films or musical shows.

· Shutting down or limiting mass transit.

· Closure of recreational facilities (community swimming pools, youth clubs, gymnasiums)

· "Self-shielding" measures for individuals include limiting face-to-face contacts, conducting business by phone or online, avoiding public places and reducing unnecessary travel

· Greetings, Social distancing practices, including gestures that avoid physical contact, reduce the risk of becoming infected during flu pandemics. The gesture of placing one's palms together, fingers pointing upwards, drawing the hands to the heart, is one non-touch alternative. Other

alternatives include the wave, the shaka (or "hang loose") sign, and placing a palm on your heart, as practiced in parts of Iran, Turkey and other Muslim countries.

· Wash your hands frequently, regularly and thoroughly clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water.

· Maintain social distancing, Maintain at least 1 meter (3 feet) distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing.

· Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth, as hands touch many surfaces and can pick up viruses. Once contaminated, hands can transfer the virus to your eyes, nose or mouth. From there, the virus can enter your body and can make you sick.

· Practice respiratory hygiene, make sure you, and the people around you, follow good respiratory hygiene. This means covering your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze. Then dispose of the used tissue immediately.

· If you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical care early

· Stay home if you feel unwell. If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical attention and call in advance. Follow the directions of your local health authority.

· The right way is to work from home.

The parade was not the only reason for the difference in death rates, but the figures show the importance of measures now known as “social distancing” can have during pandemics. “Social distancing refers to a way of creating a barrier of physical distance between two or more people so that transmission of virus can be prevented or halted,” says Arindam Basu, associate professor of epidemiology and environmental health at the University of Canterbury, in New Zealand.

As compare to Spanish flu of 1918, Just over 100 years later, the world is facing another pandemic, this time from a different virus – the Covid-19 coronavirus. Today the global population stands six billion higher than it did in 1918. While Covid-19 is different in many ways from the Spanish flu – particularly in terms of who it affects and its mortality rate so far – there is a very important lesson about the difference social distancing can make. It might still be one of the best ways of fighting this pandemic.

With the spread of COVID-19 many countries around the world are now experiencing different measures in an attempt to enforce social distancing to slow the spread of Covid-19. They range from ending mass gatherings, closing public spaces like leisure centres, pubs and clubs to closing schools and in some places a total lockdown with people forced to stay indoors.

Here one more important thing is to mention that there is a lot of difference between isolation, quarantine and social distancing. While self-isolation is a form of social distancing, there is an important distinction to be made. Self-isolation and quarantine are aimed at preventing people who are infected or are known to have had contact with people who are infected from passing on the virus. Social distancing is a wider measure aimed at stopping the kind of mixing of people that allows infections to spread through a population.

But there is a good reason why social distancing has become such an important strategy in controlling the Covid-19 pandemic.

Importance of social distancing is evident from the fact that each person infected with the Covid-19 coronavirus is thought to pass it on to an average of 2-3 other people in the early stages of an outbreak. This contagiousness is measured by epidemiologists using something known as a “reproduction number”.

Social distancing has to be maintained for quite a while as COVID-q9 incubation period – the time between infection and symptoms appearing – has been found to be around five days, although it can take up to 14 days for symptoms to appear, according to research in China. If you are infected, and continue to socialize as normal, it is likely you will pass the virus on to between two and three friends or family members, who could each then go on to infect a further 2-3 people. Within one month one case can lead to 244 other cases in this way and in two months, this soars to 59,604.

The worse thing about this virus is that it also thought to be able to spread from people who have been infected but yet to show any symptoms. An estimated 1-3% of people who catch the disease will remain asymptomatic. These people might not know to self-isolate, but if they observed good social-distancing practices would be prevented from spreading the virus unwittingly.

Based on all these things there is already some evidence that staying at home, and maintaining a safe distance from others, can slow the spread and stop this domino effect. Research looking at infections in Wuhan showed that the introduction of large-scale control measures saw the reproduction number in the city fall from 2.35 to almost one. When a reproduction number reaches one, the number of cases will stop rising as effectively each infected person is passing it on to just one other person.

One of the main aims of social distancing is to “flatten the curve”, which means delaying the spread of the virus so it reaches people more slowly. The scientists looked into two potential methods of tackling the pandemic in simulations of the UK and the US populations. The first, mitigation, focused on only socially isolating those most at risk and quarantining those with symptoms. The second, suppression, involved everyone in the population taking steps to social distance themselves while those with symptoms and others in the household quarantine themselves at home.

The cycle does not stop here, the trouble is, when people start meeting together again, the virus will start spreading and cases are likely to rise. Which is why we may see a stop-start approach to social distancing, where measures might be eased a little, allowing the number of cases to rise before stricter measures are put back in place to keep infection levels within the bounds of what health services can cope with.

In the last I would like to highlight few things that each one of us should adhere strictly while exercising social-distancing during COVID-19 pandemic.

IF YOU ARE WITH NO SYPMTOMS:

· AVOID GOING TO BARS AND RESTAURANTS

· DON’T INVITE FRIENDS OVER TO HOUSE FOR A DINNER PARTY OR A BOARD-GAME NIGHT.

· STOP DATING.

· DON’T GO TO THE GYM.

· DON’T GO OUT GO FOR A WALK OUTSIDE WITH A FRIEND, AUNLESS YOU STAY SIX FEET APART AND NEITHER OF YOU FEELS SICK.

· AVOID MAXIMUM GOING TO THE GROCERY STORES.

· AVOID PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.

· CANCEL EVENTS LIKE BIRTHDAY PARTIES AND WEDDINGS.

· AVOID VISITING ELDERLY RELATIVES?

· CANCEL HAIRCUTS AND OTHER NONESSENTIAL APPOINTMENTS.

· AVOID COMMUNAL SPACES IN MY APARTMENT BUILDING?