COVID-19 and Importance of Social Distancing

Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 7 April 2020 COVID-19 and Importance of doi:10.20944/preprints202004.0078.v1 the issues that needs to be addressed to tackle the COVID-19 threat. Social Distancing Fahim Aslam1 University of Wolverhampton Keywords: COVID-19; R0; WHO; [email protected] social distancing; H1N1; H2N2; influenza Abstract The current outbreak of the novel coronavirus also known as COVID-19 Introduction was declared as a public health The emergency by the WHO where over a coronavirus also known as COVID-19 was million people have been affected by declared as a public health emergency by the disease with over 50000 deaths till date. Social distancing is a method to current outbreak of the novel the WHO where over a million people have been affected by the disease with over 50000 deaths till date. A reported 200 minimize crowd interactions and countries have reported cases of COVID- prevent the spread of disease within groups of people. This is a common practice which has been carried out 19 with United States having the greatest number of cases and Italy having most fatalities caused by death [1] over generations to minimize the The severity of the disease ranges from spread of reproduction virus rate by limiting (R0) its among asymptomatic to fatal stages mostly affecting people with a weak immune communities. The article focuses on system and the elderly population. COVID- how social distancing has been used to 19 differs from SARS-COV where patients deal previous pandemics globally and in the prodromal period have the ability to produce large amount of virus replications © 2020 by the author(s). Distributed under a Creative Commons CC BY license. Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 7 April 2020 doi:10.20944/preprints202004.0078.v1 contributing to the spread of the infections. distancing and In countries, initially SARS-COV patients transmission lockdowns the in several lockdown was occurred only when severe illness was initiated in Wuhan, China to prevent the observed making it easier to be detected spread of the disease to other parts of the unlike of country and gradually other countries such been as Italy, Germany, Israel, Sri Lanka, India, identified as through droplet and airborne UK, France, Belgium started to follow the transmission, several studies are still being same process. COVID-19 transmission [2]. The predominantly route has conducted over the presence of COVID-19 in air samples and WHO has not identified the disease as an airborne disease till date [3]. Social distancing is a method to minimize crowd interactions and prevent the spread of disease within groups of people. This is a common practice which has been carried A majority of the patients are tested only if out over generations, i.e. the student and the symptoms are shown by them, thus teacher interactions where most students making it less reliable to identify the avoid being closest to the teacher and number of “hidden deaths” caused by prefer staying in last rows [5]. During the COVID-19. The need for testing has been 1918 influenza pandemic a reported 50 to stressed out by the WHO on a regular basis, 100 with lack of test kits and personal protective worldwide, although social distancing was equipment (PPE) in several countries there not implemented back in 1918 majority of is a high chance that a lot of patients the suffering from COVID-19 goes undetected distancing measures” that made it possible [4]. to escape the disease outbreak [6]. This Social Distancing in Pandemics million population deaths took were reported “reactive social behavioral practice followed by several millions led to the pandemic limiting the What is the importance of social distancing due to COVID-19 outbreak? Many of us have been used to hearing the term social damage after WW1 in several European countries. The same process was followed Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 7 April 2020 doi:10.20944/preprints202004.0078.v1 during 1957/58 for the spread of H2N2 other for a period of time to ensure the virus (Asia Flu) where Asians were limited spread of the disease is minimized. This to travel across borders and stay indoors would reduce the basic reproduction during the pandemic [7]. Most recently a number (R0) of the virus which would decade ago the outbreak of H1N1 also minimize the disease spread. A study known as swine flu affected nearly 60 carried million individuals, the spread of the researchers [10] identified that is social disease was controlled using general distancing practices were carried out measures such as social distancing to properly an estimate of 92% of cases will avoid human to human transmission of the be lowered by the end of 2020. An disease [8]. individual affected with COVID-19 has the Importance of Social Distancing out by Prem and team of ability to spread it to 2-3 people which will go on until they are distanced from each Practices other. There are two common practices In the modern world interactions are done followed using social distancing, one of on regular basis using technology available them is social distancing and maintaining a but majority activities carried out on a daily distance of nearly 1m within individuals and basis relies on social interaction. Social the other being staying indoors at home. interaction and contact is necessary as an This practice has been successful in the economical perspective for the country as past and in the present as well where workers need to function on a regular basis Wuhan was able to flatten the disease to allow cash flow in their respective spread by following these practices. companies, it is also essential part of This is a zero-cost method that is entirely traders and consumers to generate income dependent on behavioral patterns of [9]. individuals where most of them do not Social distancing practices allows abide by the rules put out in the country [11]. individuals to maintain distances from each If social distancing methods are ignored the Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 7 April 2020 doi:10.20944/preprints202004.0078.v1 effect could last on for the upcoming this is a cost-effective practice carried out generations as the COVID-19 virus will be in several countries which could become a able to develop different strains where till major issue if not addressed soon. date eight different strains of the virus has been discovered by scientists [12]. workers and staff to ensure the disease spread is limited within the hospital. The Discussion The outbreak of coronavirus was an unexpected phenomenon that has turned the whole world into lockdown, although most scientists and individuals blame the Chinese over the spread of the disease there has been significant downfalls from healthcare setups that has made this Several countries have been able to impose travel restrictions and work at home measures to reduce the reproduction rate spread of the virus among communities but till date the number of tests being conducted globally are low. Patients who global demand of PPE has led to several healthcare workers being exposed to COVID-19 that has led to several deaths [14]. The lack preparedness of by awareness several and healthcare sectors has led to further complications in dealing with COVID-19. Social distancing can also have its own another pandemic. and PPE have been used widely by healthcare show symptoms are considered for testing whereas the silent carriers who do not express symptoms are not being tested [13]. The lack of test kits availability has led to several laboratories limiting their resources in order to identify the most vulnerable individuals to test on, implications where several countries economy has been dented significantly over the past few months and urgent need of money to get daily essentials have led people to panic buying which led to crowd gathering. Middle-low income countries such as India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have seen this mass crowd gatherings which could have impacted the spread of COVID-19. Another problem caused by social distancing is individuals being trapped indoors leading to be depressed and feeling lonely having a significant Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 7 April 2020 impact on psychological mindset of the individual. Misleading and false messages and reports also play a substantial role in doi:10.20944/preprints202004.0078.v1 Engineering, Department of Biomedical Science. Ethical approval No ethical approval required. damaging the overall mental strength and Sources of funding perception of the person leading to No funding received. increased thoughts and concern [15]. Declaration of competing interest No conflicts of interest to declare. Conclusion With the global cases of COVID-19 on the References rise the need for testing kits and PPE for healthcare workers should become the highest priority for every country to limit and 1. https://www.google.com/covid19-map/ 2. Lipsitch, M., Swerdlow, D.L. and Finelli, L., 2020. Defining the epidemiology of detect the disease early. Moreover, social Covid-19—studies and mental support needs to be given to England Journal of Medicine. people suffering from depression and needed. New 3. https://www.who.int/newsroom/commentaries/detail/modes-of- loneliness during this period of isolation transmission-of-virus-causing-covid- through online portals and communication 19-implications-for-ipc-precaution- lines to prevent mental health problems. recommendations 4. Vetter, P., Eckerle, I. and Kaiser, L., Finally, it is our responsibility to stay aware 2020. Covid-19: a puzzle with many of missing pieces. COVID-19 and report to health authorities if any symptoms and signs are 5. Schwebel, A.I. and Cherlin, D.L., 1972. Physical and social distancing in present rather than hide it. Maintaining teacher-pupil relationships. Journal of social distancing for a period of time will Educational Psychology, 63(6), p.543. ensure that the spread of disease is lowered. Author Affiliations Fahim Aslam, University of Wolverhampton, Faculty of Science and 6. Yu, D., Lin, Q., Chiu, A.P. and He, D., 2017. Effects of reactive social distancing on the 1918 influenza pandemic. PloS one, 12(7). 7. Jackson, C., 2009. History lessons: the Asian Flu pandemic. Br J Gen Pract, 59(565), pp.622-623. Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 7 April 2020 8. Sebastian, M.R., Lodha, R. and Kabra, S.K., 2009. Swine origin influenza (swine flu). The Indian Journal of Pediatrics, 76(8), p.833. 9. Maharaj, S. and Kleczkowski, A., 2012. Controlling epidemic spread by social distancing: Do it well or not at all. BMC Public Health, 12(1), p.679. 10. Prem, K., Liu, Y., Russell, T.W., Kucharski, A.J., Eggo, R.M., Davies, N., Flasche, S., Clifford, S., Pearson, C.A., Munday, J.D. and Abbott, S., 2020. The effect of control strategies to reduce social mixing on outcomes of the COVID-19 epidemic in Wuhan, China: a modelling study. The Lancet Public Health. 11. Reluga, T.C., 2010. Game theory of social distancing in response to an epidemic. PLoS computational biology, 6(5). 12. https://www.newsmedical.net/news/20200331/Eightstrains-of-coronavirus-afflicting-theworld.aspx 13. https://www.nature.com/articles/d4159 1-020-00005-1 14. GAN, W.H., LIM, J.W. and David, K.O.H., 2020. Preventing intra-hospital infection and transmission of COVID19 in healthcare workers. Safety and Health at Work. 15. Zheng, Y., Goh, E. and Wen, J., 2020. The effects of misleading media reports about COVID-19 on Chinese tourists’ mental health: a perspective article. Anatolia, pp.1-4. doi:10.20944/preprints202004.0078.v1