I believe a lot of people don’t know what is meant by social distancing, quarantine or isolation. Let us describe those for the people to understand its meaning and its implications.
Social Distancing:
Social distancing is a preventive measure to help limit the spread of infection. It is an umbrella term which includes, but is not limited to:
- closing down schools and non-essential workplaces,.
- canceling mass gatherings,.
- limiting mass public transit. as well as
- Behavioral changes on personal levels which include
- Working from home,
- Avoiding crowded places,
- Maintaining distance from other people and
- Ceasing close contact greetings like handshakes and/or hugs.
Isolation:
Isolation is a preventive measure by which a person isolates themselves either to protect themselves from a contagious disease or to protect those around them from contagious disease. Measures include limiting the person to a designated area and having contacts around them wearing protective equipment like masks and/or gloves and taking care of proper handwashing and transmission control. For COVID-19, the term self-isolation is used where people limit themselves to the confines of their homes. They may have a designated person run essential business for the entire household, ask delivery workers to leave packages outside, limit as much physical contact as possible and maintain communication through social media.
Quarantine:
Quarantine is a preventive measure to limit the spread of disease by isolating someone who has been exposed to or is suspected to have a transmissible disease, and waiting to see if they do have the disease. It can also refer to a widescale preventive measure by which a geographic area is isolated to prevent the spread of disease by restricting the movement of people and goods.