‌What‌‌‌‌is‌the‌difference‌‌between‌‌self-isolation‌quarantine‌and‌social‌distancing‌?‌

2020 has brought a lot of changes that have affected the conditions of our existence and activities. In particular, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the governments of many states had to resort to tough methods of combating this disease, which seriously affected almost all aspects of human life: everyday life, the economy, etc. But why was all this necessary, and how will the measures introduced help during a pandemic?

COVID-19, and the complications it causes, is a serious threat that in some cases can be fatal. But you can still fight it.

social distancing

As mentioned above, COVID-19 has made adjustments to our lives.

The health organization introduced the concept of “social distancing”. It means that you need to resort to certain restrictions in direct contact with people, or completely avoid contact without an urgent need for it. For example, go shopping as rarely as possible, limit visits to crowded places, including general meals. And if there is still a good reason for this, then at least you need to maintain a distance of 2 meters from other people.

We can say that social distancing is a rule of etiquette in a pandemic.

Why this is necessary

As practice has shown, medicine can not cope with the peak of the incidence. What does this have to do with both the availability and relevance of equipment, the capacity of clinics, and the qualifications of medical personnel who are most susceptible to infection, or even a lack of staff.

Therefore, social distancing minimizes the number of cases, thereby reducing the burden on medicine. It is much easier for doctors to cope with the disease in isolated cases than with mass diseases.

What you need to remember

1. Limit visits to places both outdoors and indoors with a large number of people.
2. Reschedule all family events that involve the gathering of a large number of people for a period after the epidemic.
3. When absolutely necessary, be on the street when there are few people there. In this case, the distance will be large, and the likelihood of infection is low.
4. When leaving the house, you need to maintain a distance of at least 2 meters from the nearest person.
5. Avoid any physical contact such as shaking hands, hugging, etc. ^[1].

The most important condition that needs to be remembered is the observance of social distance not by one person, but by absolutely everyone around. After all, everyone can be a carrier of the disease without any visible symptoms and suspicions. And only if the recommendations of social distancing are followed by everyone, a significant effect can be achieved in the fight against the COVID-19 virus.

Self-isolation

Another measure to reduce the spread of the virus and the diseases it causes is self-isolation. But unlike social distancing, which implies a restriction in full health, self-isolation must be adhered to for any manifestations of symptoms, or recent contact with a sick person.

Self-isolation usually lasts 14 days from the moment of contact with the sick person. During this period, symptoms may not appear, and after isolation, you can return to normal life, but with adherence to the rules of social distancing. Otherwise, you need to seek medical help to diagnose the disease, treat ^[2].

Why this is necessary

There is a high chance of infection through contact with a sick person. Therefore, the contact person poses a potential threat to others, as he may be a carrier of the virus. For this, measures are being taken to self-isolate those in contact, in order to prevent the transmission of the virus to other people. Staying home after exposure is the best way to significantly reduce the spread of COVID-19.

What you need to remember

1. Self-isolation is not a restriction in everything. You can partially continue to follow the usual daily routine.
2. Work can be transferred to a remote mode.
3. There is an opportunity to do what the hands usually did not reach on a normal working day. For example, to take courses for which there was not enough time before.
4. Don’t forget to maintain your regular physical activity. Fortunately, there are a lot of videos available now that you can use.

Quarantine

Unlike self-isolation, restrictive quarantine measures apply to absolutely all people: with symptoms from without, who have been in contact with infected people and not. These rules are announced by the government authorities of a certain administrative unit, whether it be a city, district, region or region, and apply to a specific area where it is assumed that people may be infected. The government resorts to quarantine when it sees no other option but to contain the disease by isolating the population at home or in medical facilities. Thus, the growth of the incidence is stopped or at least slowed down, which helps doctors cope with significant mass cases.

In other words, if social distancing and self-isolation are recommendations, that is, they depend on each person and remain on their conscience, then quarantine is a compulsory measure to curb the spread of the disease by the government. This means that people who break the rules are punished with fines.

Why this is necessary

As in the case of the previous two measures to prevent the spread of the disease, quarantine also involves restricting movement to places with a large number of people for no apparent reason. Moreover, in some cases, the conditions may be adjusted depending on the complexity of the current epidemiological situation in the region. The period of validity of the quarantine is regulated at the legislative level.

The purpose of introducing quarantine is absolutely the same – to reduce cases of morbidity among the population and reduce the burden on medical institutions.

What you need to remember

Quarantine conditions in different localities can vary greatly. Moreover, the factor that affects the change in the rules is, first of all, a local increase in the incidence. You can always find out about the current state of quarantine, as well as changes or the introduction of other conditions from the media. Rules can change quite quickly, so you need to follow the news regularly. ^[3].

All these measures are important components in stopping the spread of both COVID-19 and other diseases. By following all the recommendations of the health organization, as well as the restrictions set by the state, we play an important role in the fight against the virus.

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