Merriam-Webster dictionary defines social distancing as the practice of maintaining a greater than usual physical distance from other people or of avoiding direct contact with people or objects in public places during the outbreak of a contagious disease in order to minimize exposure and reduce the transmission of infection.
These days, WHO and several governments across the world are advising and applying social distancing as the major prevention scheme to reduce the transmission of the current pandemic disease, COVID-19. The spread of the disease is surging worldwide infecting over 600,000 and killing more than 30,000 individuals. According to WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom, it took 67 days from the first reported of COVID-19 to reach 100,000 cases, then, 11 days for the second 100,000, and just four days for the third 100,000.
Dr. Yekoyesew Worku, Minister of Health Office Director-General articulates this social distancing as one of the non-pharmaceutical interventions taken to prevent the spread of a contagious disease like COVID-19 by maintaining a physical distance between people and reducing the number of times people come into close contact with each other.
Anyone who witnessed symptoms [cough, fever, fatigue and breathing difficulty] of the disease should isolate himself. Unless otherwise, the disease will get spread across the country and people generally will be getting into curfew. Therefore, the people shall sustain itself before the nationwide lockdown that induces overall social and economic crises to the poorest economy. If the situation gets worsens, the government will be obliged to fasten curfew. This will harm every individual in particular and also exposed the nation for the economic crisis in general.
The public shall avoid the ever happening funeral and marriage ceremonies that require mass gatherings until the removal of the disease. They need to also avoid secular or habitual meetings including Ekub and Idir, traditional financial associations.
The major problem for non-application of social distancing is lack of awareness. However, the government has exerted more efforts in raising public awareness about the disease at least in the capital while the public attitudinal change is low compared to the national effort.
For example, if a person restrains himself from serving in a crowded hotel, he will save himself and his family from the disease.
Social distancing is a non-pharmaceutical medicine to the virus. In good times, Ethiopians reflect their morality by sharing feelings gathering together. “Today, we are in a time where we show our sympathy to our society by creating distance. This is about paying sacrifice through ignoring our long-lived norms because we need to do this to stay safe and alive so that we can go back to our lives.”
Similarly, public figures shall persuade their followers to stay distant and ensure their safety just for the sake of the people or to teach the people. This is the key tool to avoid the disease.
Every country decides to apply non-pharmaceutical interventions based on researches to halt the spread of the deadliest disease. For example, Germany prohibits gatherings beyond two individuals, according to Dr. Yekoyesew.
Every Ethiopian has a responsibility to practice social distancing. The spreading of the disease will let everyone live loss from the shortage of medication or treatment. The social distance shall be at least more than two meters to halt the transmission of the virus between individuals due to the dropping of virus particles either through air or body contact. It can be also transmitted by making contact with non-sanitized materials. Therefore, while respecting the social distancing rule, the public also needs to keep its sanitation.
“Hand washing is another form of non-pharmaceutical intervention to prevent a pandemic. Therefore, washing hands at often with soap is significant to remove invisible viruses and bacteria from our hands. In this regard, Ethiopia has better records in the past three decades through preventing diseases via hand washing like interventions.”
Accordingly, the health extension program of the country will have an important role now in raising the public awareness to stay safe through informing them about the nature, symptoms and prevention mechanisms of the disease. Therefore, health workers shall improve their efforts similar to what they have done before the occurrence of the pandemic by awakening the society about the characteristics and prevention mechanisms. “We shall focus on the interventions as they are easy, fee-free and do not request follow-up of physicians in person.” This is a challenging time for the country’s health system. If the nation fails to suspend the pandemic, it might cause the failure of the national system as a whole.
“The society is reluctant to accept new things that confront its tradition. It might not accept the facts about the virus that makes social distancing a must. So what shall we do? Instead of horrifying the society about the deadliest nature of the virus, we should inform it citing examples from the experience of the affected countries’ utmost. To avoid fear, we should give the society a guarantee and the guarantee is equipping it with the needed knowledge and we are doing that,” according to Dr. Yekoyesew.
The closure of schools and the order of public servants to work from office is an important measure that indicates the seriousness of the virus. However, this is not enough compared to the overwhelming surge in the spread of the virus. The effort need to ensure the avoidance of the pandemic with low harm. The country needs to halt the spreading of the virus by creating proper social distancing. The government and stakeholders ought to facilitate economic subsidy that recognizes the people’s income.
Therefore, public gatherings related to transportation and market should be prohibited so that the public will stay home, said Consultant Trainer Dr. Erssido Lendebo. The people also should avoid mere speculation in simplifying the virus. Rather, it shall be watching out of the disease as it is dangerous and new to the world. “If we fail to do this, we will lose many lives, and face economic and system crisis.” The pandemic has become difficult for the developed nations and will be more devastating to developing countries like Ethiopia with the poor economy and collective culture, as to Dr. Erssido.
Social distancing could lead to loneliness, especially among older people who are at a higher risk of COVID-19. However, health professionals are working to find a solution for mental health that isolated from society while applying social distancing. The experts are designing mental health packages to facilitate psychological services. This includes interaction with patients and experience sharing safely.
Including social distancing and hand washing, non-pharmaceutical interventions are very essential to protect the public health in most developing countries where the nations have a poor economy to medical facilities and health payment for killer diseases especially in times of the occurrence of epidemics, according to Dr. Yekoyesew. Therefore, Ethiopians shall develop social distancing until the eradication of the pandemic and perhaps this shall be lasting to reduce contagious disease and protect the public health in the long run.
The Ethiopian Herald March 31/2020
BY YOHANES JEMANEH
