COVID-19: Why is social distancing so important?

What is social distancing?

Social or physical distancing is just that -- keep a minimum space between yourself and others. To effectively implement social distancing for COVID-19, you should:

• Keep at least 6 feet (~2 meters) between yourself and other people outside your household at all times.
• Stay out of crowded places and avoid mass gatherings: this includes mass transit, large church groups, conferences, festivals, parades, concerts, sporting events, weddings, and other types of assemblies.

COVID-19 is highly contagious. Even those who exhibit few or no symptoms can spread the disease. In other words, you cannot identify those who have COVID-19 and are contagious just by taking their temperature or looking for a cough. This also applies to children who often have no symptoms and could easily infect older adults and seniors.

The virus spreads primarily from person-to-person. It spreads

• between people who are within about 6 feet) of each other.
• through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks. These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs.

Why should I practice social distancing?

Besides protecting yourself and those in your family, social distancing and wearing a mask when you test positive for COVID-19 can have wide-reaching outcomes.

Symptoms of COVID-19 usually result in mild or moderate illness, such as a fever, dry cough, body aches, and fatigue that resolves over a week in most people. In older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause a more severe outcome, which can include pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome and death.

Adhering to social distancing norms can help protect groups at higher risk, for example:

• older people 65 years and over
• people with chronic conditions, like lung disease, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes or obesity, among others
• people with weak immune systems

Related Questions

• Which breathing techniques help with COVID-19?
• COVID-19 vaccines and variants: What you should know
• Should I wear a face mask to protect myself from COVID-19?

Bottom Line

When needed, social distancing for COVID-19 disease can protect you and your family, health care workers, and help limit overcrowding of hospitals and ICUs.

As many people are asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic when they contract COVID-19, social distancing can protect the high-risk groups, such as the elderly, and those with diabetes, obesity, heart and lung disease and weak immune systems.