COVID-19 has presented a unique set of challenges for each of us. But one enormous challenge we’re all adjusting to is the shift in the way we interact with one another.
Social distancing isn’t easy, but it is effective.
Here are four reasons you should still be taking social distancing very seriously.
We’re not done “flattening the curve”
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve all heard about the importance of flattening the curve, with social distancing being the primary way to achieve this. But our need to flatten the curve didn’t end as restrictions began to ease and businesses began to reopen.
Keeping the curve flat is critical for our communities. It helps ensure that plenty of health care workers, hospital beds and ICU’s remain available as individuals seek treatment. It helps ensure that businesses can remain open safely. And it helps ensure the situation doesn’t get so out of hand that those inconvenient, restrictive orders are put back into place again.
The virus can spread from person-to-people
If you’re infected and cough, clear your throat or even speak, you may potentially spread the virus to someone nearby.
While we hear a lot about “person-to-person” spread, it’s important to understand that a person can infect more than just one other person. In fact, on average, an infected individual spreads the new coronavirus to two to three other people.
You can spread the virus without knowing it
We’re still learning more and more about coronavirus every single day, but public health officials continue to warn that you don’t actually have to be exhibiting symptoms to spread the new coronavirus.
Social distancing is your social responsibility
The COVID-19 pandemic has placed a new level of personal accountability in front of each of us. To slow the spread of coronavirus and protect the health and vitality of our communities, we must each remain committed to the extra precautions our public health officials are recommending.
And we must also remember to pair social distancing with other precautions, including:
- Wearing a mask in public
- Practicing proper hand washing and cough etiquette
- Thinking twice before visiting with vulnerable loved ones