Social Distancing: The Key Thing We Can Do to ‘Flatten the Curve’ of COVID-19

Paul Kafasis, writing at the Rogue Amoeba blog:

At its most basic, social distancing is a deliberate effort to reduce your contact with others. Doing so will slow or prevent community transmission of COVID-19, by decreasing the number of opportunities the virus has to spread.

You can practice social distancing in many ways. For those in the tech sector, working from home is a hugely powerful step you may be able to take. Rogue Amoeba’s employees use home offices around the globe, but if that weren’t the case, we’d be mandating working from home now.

It’s not possible for everyone to work from home, but there are still plenty of other changes you can implement. Avoid attending group gatherings. Reduce the amount you leave the house. If you do go out, maintain physical distance from others as best you can.

As Paul notes, there’s not much we can do individually, but doing what we can — particularly social distancing and frequent hand-washing — is both good for us collectively and at an individual level reduces that feeling of helplessness.

★ Saturday, 14 March 2020