WEBVTT - How Can Social Distancing Save Lives? 0:00:01.920 --> 0:00:06.520 Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 0:00:06.559 --> 0:00:10.159 brain Stuff. Lauren Vogebam here. This episode is part of 0:00:10.200 --> 0:00:13.160 the miniseries we're doing on some health and safety topics 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:16.159 surrounding the novel type of coronavirus that was identified in 0:00:17.040 --> 0:00:21.599 which causes what's there for being called COVID nineteen. Because 0:00:21.840 --> 0:00:24.599 everything is a little less scary when you understand it better. 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:29.400 So for today, we're talking about a phrase that's new 0:00:29.440 --> 0:00:31.200 to most of us, but not to the world of 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:36.320 public health, social distancing. But what exactly does social distancing 0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:39.840 mean and how do we put it into practice? Simply put, 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:43.640 social distancing is a community strategy used by public health 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:47.519 officials to put space between individuals in an attempt to 0:00:47.600 --> 0:00:51.720 limit the spread of any highly contagious infectious disease like 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:56.320 COVID nineteen or ebola or stars. The US Centers for 0:00:56.360 --> 0:01:01.320 Disease Control or CDC, defines social distancing as remaining out 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:06.080 of congregate settings, avoiding mass gatherings, and maintaining distance approximately 0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:11.280 six ft or two meters from others when possible. Many viruses, 0:01:11.360 --> 0:01:15.840 including coronavirus, spread primarily through droplets that can remain in 0:01:15.880 --> 0:01:19.280 the air for a couple hours after someone's sneezes or coughs, 0:01:19.840 --> 0:01:22.640 though over time the viruses in those droplets become less 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:25.160 and less likely to infect you, as we discussed in 0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:30.120 yesterday's episode. However, the potential for air and surfaces harboring 0:01:30.120 --> 0:01:34.800 infectious viruses is why creating space between individuals is critical. 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:39.720 Community mitigation strategies are especially important before a vaccine or 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:43.480 drug is widely available to prevent diseases from spreading, and 0:01:43.520 --> 0:01:46.479 we don't have any such fix for COVID nineteen yet. 0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:51.240 Social distancing is typically used in communities where an outbreak 0:01:51.240 --> 0:01:54.400 of a virus like COVID nineteen has not yet occurred, 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:58.440 because it's difficult to stop once it's started. Think of 0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:01.400 it like when firefighters clear are large swaths of brush 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:04.520 to create a firebreak that will stop wildfires from spreading 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:07.160 out of control. If there's no fuel for the fire 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:09.960 to burn, it'll go out. If there's no one for 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:14.520 the virus to infect, the infection won't spread. You may 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:16.720 have heard that the goal of social distancing is to 0:02:16.880 --> 0:02:20.320 flatten the curve. The curve in question here is a 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:23.240 graph of how many people are likely to get sick 0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:26.240 and the period of time over which they're likely to 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:31.000 fall ill because, look, a COVID nineteen is a new illness. 0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:33.880 None of us has an immunity to it, meaning that 0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:36.960 our immune systems are all unfamiliar with it, so they 0:02:37.000 --> 0:02:40.320 don't perceive it as a threat right away. So our 0:02:40.360 --> 0:02:42.600 immune system doesn't know to start destroying it as soon 0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:45.480 as it enters our bodies, so the virus has a 0:02:45.600 --> 0:02:48.880 chance to replicate, and by the time our immune systems 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:52.080 know something's wrong, they have to launch a full scale attack, 0:02:52.560 --> 0:02:55.640 which is what creates fever and weariness and other symptoms 0:02:55.639 --> 0:02:59.280 of being sick. The period of time between when you 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:01.280 pick up the virus us and thus might spread it 0:03:01.280 --> 0:03:03.639 to other people and when you start to show symptoms 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:06.840 of being ill is called the incubation period, and no 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:09.079 one knows how long it can last yet with this 0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:12.880 novel coronavirus, but medical researchers are saying to give it 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:16.880 two weeks to be safe now until we develop a 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:20.079 fix for COVID nineteen to prevent it from spreading. It's 0:03:20.120 --> 0:03:22.399 safe to say that most to all of us will 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:25.760 become infected. A chunk of the population will never have 0:03:25.840 --> 0:03:29.760 any symptoms, many will have mild symptoms, and a small 0:03:29.800 --> 0:03:33.320 portion will get seriously sick, either due to the virus itself, 0:03:33.400 --> 0:03:36.840 which attacks cells in and reproduces in the lungs, or 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:39.760 due to other illnesses that we're more susceptible to when 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:44.920 our lungs have been thus damaged, like pneumonia. So when 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:48.760 people talk about flattening the curve, that means slowing down 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:51.840 the spread of the disease so that those relatively few 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:55.000 people who are going to get seriously ill don't get 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:58.400 seriously ill all at once. That would be a tall 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:01.320 peak in the curve of illness is over time, and 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:04.120 it would be bad because it would overwhelm our health 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:08.720 care system. By avoiding contact with people until your potential 0:04:08.760 --> 0:04:11.960 incubation period of a couple of weeks is over, you're 0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:15.880 helping to flatten that peak. The same number of people 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:19.839 will be infected or sick or seriously sick over time, 0:04:20.160 --> 0:04:23.000 but you're helping spread those cases out so that the 0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:25.320 health care system will be able to respond to some 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:29.400 before the next ones come in. And that's why officials 0:04:29.440 --> 0:04:32.200 are telling us to stay home when we can. But 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:35.039 don't think of it like you're trying to avoid getting infected. 0:04:35.279 --> 0:04:37.200 I mean that would be great but think of it 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:40.440 like you're already infected and don't know it, and you're 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:45.520 trying to avoid spreading it. Examples of social distancing include 0:04:45.600 --> 0:04:49.560 closing or suspending schools and moving to online or distance learning, 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:53.280 canceling public events such as conferences, weekly meetings, or places 0:04:53.279 --> 0:04:57.440 of worship, implementing commute practices for businesses where it's practical, 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:01.440 closing child care centers, suspect ending or canceling sporting events, 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:05.800 concerts or festivals, and closing down seating at bars and restaurants. 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:10.599 Mass transit may also be affected. The important thing to 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:12.720 note is that if your children are out of school, 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:15.560 it's not time to set up playdates with the neighborhood kids, 0:05:15.640 --> 0:05:18.200 or to visit the local public library or park if 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:22.200 they're even open. Contact with people outside your home should 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:25.160 be limited, and the same goes for adults. It's not 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:27.240 time to set up office at the local coffee shop 0:05:27.360 --> 0:05:29.640 again if it's open, or to have people over for 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:34.400 a party. When implemented correctly, social distancing can have the 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:37.279 desired effect of preventing the spread of a virus. It's 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:39.880 been proven in the past, but only when people take 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:43.000 it seriously. A study published in the two thousand seven 0:05:43.040 --> 0:05:46.120 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that during 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:50.159 the nineteen eighteen Spanish influenza pandemic, cities that put social 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:53.920 distancing measures in place earlier had significantly lower death rates 0:05:53.920 --> 0:06:01.440 than those that did not. Today's episode was written by 0:06:01.440 --> 0:06:04.279 Patty Resmussen and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:07.080 this and lots of other topics, visit how stuffworks dot com. 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:09.880 Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio. For more podcasts 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:12.760 from my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:14.520 or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.