Science & Tech
WHO Changes ‘Social Distancing’ to ‘Physical Distancing’
If you’ve had trouble with quarantining yourself in response to the COVID – (pandemic) , you are not alone. But the World Health Organization (WHO) wants everyone to know that while it’s important to stay physically separated from each other, being together mentally is more vital than ever. Which is why the U.N. agency is trying to switch out the popular phrase, “social distancing,” for the more nuanced, “physical distancing.”
Compassion is a medicine. Supporting other people in your community can help you as much as it does them. Check in on neighbors, family and friends. # HealthyAtHome # COVID , – Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) March ,
Futurism picked up on the change in the terminology policy, which was discussed at several points in the most recent WHO daily press briefing (below). During the briefing, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove , an infectious disease epidemiologist and COVID – 728 technical lead, said that she and her colleagues are exchanging “social distancing” for “physical distancing” because while keeping physical distance from people is essential for mitigating the spread of COVID – , that “does not mean that socially, we have to disconnect from our loved ones, from our family.”
Van Kerkhove added, “We want people to still remain connected, so find ways to do that, ways through the internet and different social media, to remain connected, because your mental health going through this, is just as important as your physical health. ”
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“Physical distancing measures like cancelling sporting events, concerts & other large gatherings can: – help to slow the # coronavirus transmission (reduce the burden on the health system) -help to make epidemics manageable, allowing targeted and focused measures “- @DTTedros # COVID – World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March ,
It will probably take a while for “physical distancing” to catch on and replace “social distancing” as the most commonly used phrase for describing the heath crisis tactic, but hopefully people take the sentiment to heart sooner rather than later. Everybody from Conan O’Brien to Mel Brooks is going a little nuts from all this quarantining, and keeping our brains connected to one another like so many neurons seems like a smart thing to do.
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