Health authorities are calling on Canadians to practise “social distancing,” a way to mitigate transmission of the novel coronavirus. This is a term widely used in infection control, and refers to approaches for minimizing close physical contact at the individual level by keeping a two-metre distance, and at the community level through closures of public and private spaces as well as cancellations of events where large numbers of people might gather.
But while this is the right public-health approach, it has the wrong name.
The implication of the phrase “social distancing” is that we should be putting space between us socially – but we only need to be distancing ourselves physically. In other words, we should be social and participating in the community at large – just so long as it doesn’t require physical proximity.
Indeed, what people need most right now is social connection, because real connection is essential to our mental health.
Read this entire piece by Margaret Eaton in Canada’s The Globe and Mail here: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-social-distancing-is-a-misnomer-we-should-be-physically-distancing/