1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:10,159 Speaker 1: brain Stuff. Lauren Vogebam here. This episode is part of 3 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:13,160 Speaker 1: the miniseries we're doing on some health and safety topics 4 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:16,159 Speaker 1: surrounding the novel type of coronavirus that was identified in 5 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:21,599 Speaker 1: which causes what's there for being called COVID nineteen. Because 6 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:24,599 Speaker 1: everything is a little less scary when you understand it better. 7 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 1: So for today, we're talking about a phrase that's new 8 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:31,200 Speaker 1: to most of us, but not to the world of 9 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:36,320 Speaker 1: public health, social distancing. But what exactly does social distancing 10 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:39,840 Speaker 1: mean and how do we put it into practice? Simply put, 11 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:43,640 Speaker 1: social distancing is a community strategy used by public health 12 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:47,519 Speaker 1: officials to put space between individuals in an attempt to 13 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:51,720 Speaker 1: limit the spread of any highly contagious infectious disease like 14 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:56,320 Speaker 1: COVID nineteen or ebola or stars. The US Centers for 15 00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:01,320 Speaker 1: Disease Control or CDC, defines social distancing as remaining out 16 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:06,080 Speaker 1: of congregate settings, avoiding mass gatherings, and maintaining distance approximately 17 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: six ft or two meters from others when possible. Many viruses, 18 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 1: including coronavirus, spread primarily through droplets that can remain in 19 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: the air for a couple hours after someone's sneezes or coughs, 20 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:22,640 Speaker 1: though over time the viruses in those droplets become less 21 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 1: and less likely to infect you, as we discussed in 22 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:30,120 Speaker 1: yesterday's episode. However, the potential for air and surfaces harboring 23 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 1: infectious viruses is why creating space between individuals is critical. 24 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: Community mitigation strategies are especially important before a vaccine or 25 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: drug is widely available to prevent diseases from spreading, and 26 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:46,479 Speaker 1: we don't have any such fix for COVID nineteen yet. 27 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 1: Social distancing is typically used in communities where an outbreak 28 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:54,400 Speaker 1: of a virus like COVID nineteen has not yet occurred, 29 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 1: because it's difficult to stop once it's started. Think of 30 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:01,400 Speaker 1: it like when firefighters clear are large swaths of brush 31 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:04,520 Speaker 1: to create a firebreak that will stop wildfires from spreading 32 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 1: out of control. If there's no fuel for the fire 33 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:09,960 Speaker 1: to burn, it'll go out. If there's no one for 34 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:14,520 Speaker 1: the virus to infect, the infection won't spread. You may 35 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 1: have heard that the goal of social distancing is to 36 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: flatten the curve. The curve in question here is a 37 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:23,240 Speaker 1: graph of how many people are likely to get sick 38 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:26,240 Speaker 1: and the period of time over which they're likely to 39 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 1: fall ill because, look, a COVID nineteen is a new illness. 40 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:33,880 Speaker 1: None of us has an immunity to it, meaning that 41 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 1: our immune systems are all unfamiliar with it, so they 42 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: don't perceive it as a threat right away. So our 43 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:42,600 Speaker 1: immune system doesn't know to start destroying it as soon 44 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:45,480 Speaker 1: as it enters our bodies, so the virus has a 45 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:48,880 Speaker 1: chance to replicate, and by the time our immune systems 46 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:52,080 Speaker 1: know something's wrong, they have to launch a full scale attack, 47 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:55,640 Speaker 1: which is what creates fever and weariness and other symptoms 48 00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: of being sick. The period of time between when you 49 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: pick up the virus us and thus might spread it 50 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:03,639 Speaker 1: to other people and when you start to show symptoms 51 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 1: of being ill is called the incubation period, and no 52 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:09,079 Speaker 1: one knows how long it can last yet with this 53 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:12,880 Speaker 1: novel coronavirus, but medical researchers are saying to give it 54 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:16,880 Speaker 1: two weeks to be safe now until we develop a 55 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:20,079 Speaker 1: fix for COVID nineteen to prevent it from spreading. It's 56 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:22,399 Speaker 1: safe to say that most to all of us will 57 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 1: become infected. A chunk of the population will never have 58 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: any symptoms, many will have mild symptoms, and a small 59 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: portion will get seriously sick, either due to the virus itself, 60 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:36,840 Speaker 1: which attacks cells in and reproduces in the lungs, or 61 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: due to other illnesses that we're more susceptible to when 62 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 1: our lungs have been thus damaged, like pneumonia. So when 63 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:48,760 Speaker 1: people talk about flattening the curve, that means slowing down 64 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:51,840 Speaker 1: the spread of the disease so that those relatively few 65 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: people who are going to get seriously ill don't get 66 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 1: seriously ill all at once. That would be a tall 67 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: peak in the curve of illness is over time, and 68 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:04,120 Speaker 1: it would be bad because it would overwhelm our health 69 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: care system. By avoiding contact with people until your potential 70 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 1: incubation period of a couple of weeks is over, you're 71 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 1: helping to flatten that peak. The same number of people 72 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:19,839 Speaker 1: will be infected or sick or seriously sick over time, 73 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:23,000 Speaker 1: but you're helping spread those cases out so that the 74 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:25,320 Speaker 1: health care system will be able to respond to some 75 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:29,400 Speaker 1: before the next ones come in. And that's why officials 76 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 1: are telling us to stay home when we can. But 77 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:35,039 Speaker 1: don't think of it like you're trying to avoid getting infected. 78 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:37,200 Speaker 1: I mean that would be great but think of it 79 00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 1: like you're already infected and don't know it, and you're 80 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:45,520 Speaker 1: trying to avoid spreading it. Examples of social distancing include 81 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: closing or suspending schools and moving to online or distance learning, 82 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:53,280 Speaker 1: canceling public events such as conferences, weekly meetings, or places 83 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 1: of worship, implementing commute practices for businesses where it's practical, 84 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: closing child care centers, suspect ending or canceling sporting events, 85 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:05,800 Speaker 1: concerts or festivals, and closing down seating at bars and restaurants. 86 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:10,599 Speaker 1: Mass transit may also be affected. The important thing to 87 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:12,720 Speaker 1: note is that if your children are out of school, 88 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:15,560 Speaker 1: it's not time to set up playdates with the neighborhood kids, 89 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:18,200 Speaker 1: or to visit the local public library or park if 90 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 1: they're even open. Contact with people outside your home should 91 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:25,160 Speaker 1: be limited, and the same goes for adults. It's not 92 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:27,240 Speaker 1: time to set up office at the local coffee shop 93 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: again if it's open, or to have people over for 94 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 1: a party. When implemented correctly, social distancing can have the 95 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:37,279 Speaker 1: desired effect of preventing the spread of a virus. It's 96 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 1: been proven in the past, but only when people take 97 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: it seriously. A study published in the two thousand seven 98 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:46,120 Speaker 1: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that during 99 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:50,159 Speaker 1: the nineteen eighteen Spanish influenza pandemic, cities that put social 100 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:53,920 Speaker 1: distancing measures in place earlier had significantly lower death rates 101 00:05:53,920 --> 00:06:01,440 Speaker 1: than those that did not. Today's episode was written by 102 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:04,279 Speaker 1: Patty Resmussen and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on 103 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: this and lots of other topics, visit how stuffworks dot com. 104 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio. For more podcasts 105 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 1: from my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 106 00:06:12,839 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.