Social distancing is non-pharmaceutical infection prevention and control intervention implemented to avoid/decrease contact between those who are infected with a disease-causing pathogen and those who are not, so as to stop or slow down the rate and extent of disease transmission in a community. This eventually leads to a decrease in spread, morbidity and mortality due to the disease.
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One way to slow the spread of viruses is social distancing (also called physical distancing).
![What Does Social Distancing Actually Mean? 13 Social Distancing (3)](https://215mag.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Social-Distancing-3.webp)
The more space between you and others, the harder it is for the virus to spread.
![What Does Social Distancing Actually Mean? 14 Social Distancing (9)](https://215mag.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Social-Distancing-9.webp)
Other examples of social distancing that allow you to avoid larger crowds or crowded spaces are:
- Working from home instead of at the office
- Closing schools or switching to online classes
- Visiting loved ones by electronic devices instead of in-person
- Cancelling or postponing conferences and large meetings
![What Does Social Distancing Actually Mean? 15 Social Distancing (1)](https://215mag.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Social-Distancing-1.webp)
Keep in touch with others
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You can still keep in touch with loved ones while you practise social distancing:
- use video chats
- schedule phone calls to chat with others you would normally see
- use online groups to interact
- chat with neighbours while keeping 1.5 metres apart
How long will we have to keep social distancing?
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Probably for several months. But we may have to do it over and over again since the outbreak could come in waves.
![What Does Social Distancing Actually Mean? 18 Social Distancing (5)](https://215mag.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Social-Distancing-5.webp)
Research by the Imperial College in Great Britain “would suggest you have to institute these kinds of measures for five months, very vigorously,” says Gounder, the infectious disease specialist.
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“And then you may be able to relax for a period. And then you would re-institute as the cases go up again. But we’re basically looking at doing this over and over and over again, even after a five-month period of strict social distancing, in order to curb cases until we have a vaccine.”
![What Does Social Distancing Actually Mean? 20 Social Distancing (8)](https://215mag.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Social-Distancing-8.webp)
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