I have watched so many medical professionals such as Mark Hochberg NYU doctor talking about the importance of social distancing and it seems amazing to me that there are still so many people who just don’t do it. When you walk in the street you see so many people who are huddled up or still hugging to greet each other and to be honest it can make the rest of us feel very anxious indeed. I wanted to write a quick piece therefore in order to stress the importance of social distancing in order to remove the risk of passing the virus on to one another, and even staying a meter from each there is enough to greatly lower the risk of passing the disease on.
Asymptomatic
The biggest risk of this virus is that there are many people who have it but who have no idea that they have at. These people can easily pass the virus on to someone else and that is a real danger that we have. Simply because you are feeling alright doesn’t mean that you can ignore social distancing guidelines, as you may be carrying it without the knowledge that you are.
Antibodies
Another group of people who believe that it is alright to ignore social distancing rules are those who have already had it and assume that because they have the antibodies that everything will be alright. This is not the case however and we have seen in a recent piece of research that in many people those antibodies wear off after a certain amount of time. This is why there are great fears of a second or third wave of the virus because people appear to be able to get infected again even if they have already had it.
Healthcare System
This is not just about people getting ill, we have generally accepted that this is probably the case, this is about, and in reality has always been about lowering the pressure on the healthcare system. If everyone gets ill at once then we will see hospitals getting overwhelmed, doctors and nurses without sufficient equipment such as ventilators and protective gear and this will in turn result in the fact that we won’t have the resources to look after everyone. We can’t allow this to happen which is why it is so crucial that we are respecting the rules around social distancing.
Easy
Given the benefits which this has on the situation which we are going through it would seem absurd not to follow these guidelines, especially when we are not exactly being asked to do something which is difficult. It is a little challenging to get used to staying away from people but it is absolutely essential that for the time being, we stick to the rules and keep away from others, after all, it is only a couple of meters apart and it is better than being locked down at home.
