SO CLOSE YOU FEEL THEIR BODY HEAT IN QUEUES

Sir,

The term social distancing was introduced to us in March 2020 after the unprecedented outbreak of the coronavirus. Initially, this was considered a measure to curb the spread of a contagious virus found in droplets that spread once an infected individual either coughs or spits intentionally or unintentionally. People were required to individually maintain a distance of 1.5 metres to avoid the spread of this virus. The concept was further popularised by being included in the stipulated guidelines of prominent organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO). After the outbreak, social distancing became a common phenomenon and was applicable in every corner of society. However, there was a catch when it came to social distancing, something which most failed to observe or merely be aware of.

This exercise could evidently not be implemented without any supervision simply because no one can be trusted. In as much as it was an understood phenomenon, it was awfully hard to maintain. The honest truth about social distancing is that it is likely the reason behind so many infections. The way people barely practice it, if we are being honest, is likely the reason behind the high infection rate of many diseases in the country. Despite the constant reminder by health officials and organisations about the importance of social distancing, it has commonly been the number one guideline people blatantly fail to live by or implement. Daily we are confronted with people who fail to maintain a social distance, with people heavily breathing down your neck in queues regardless of you trying to keep a space in between each other.

Common

The more you move away in pursuit of getting closer to the cashier the more the person behind you gets closer and not just close, but close enough to feel their body heat. It is also quite common that a person will gravitate towards sitting or standing next to another person in a public space rather than finding a spot where they can enjoy solitude and be alone, which is another issue which defeats the concept of social distancing. You could be waiting for transport or waiting for your food order at a store and someone will deliberately stand right beside you than find a vacant spot. Unfortunately, social distancing is also a myth in health facilities. In most cases, the nurse or the security guard will speak until their mouth is dry over people not maintaining a social distance, I have seen it happen countless times.

Instructs

The typical scenario is, a nurse or security guard initially finds a group of people waiting to access healthcare or line and instructs them to keep a social distance, what then happens is people do disperse in an effort to maintain a social distance but some simply don’t move an inch. A few minutes or an hour after the instruction, people are back gathered together and grouped subconsciously without any distance between them. This then leads to the instructor issuing the instructions again only for the same thing to happen, which becomes a cycle and the spread of diseases is easily exacerbated. Therefore, we can preach social distancing all we want but the truth of the matter is it’s is easier said than done. However, we need to continue preaching social distancing so that it sinks into people that diseases are easily spread when we don’t have enough space between each other.

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