We have crossed 100 days of our war against COVID-19 disease. This is a time to salute the emergency staff, including health workers, policemen, government officials, working round the clock to protect us.

The most important lesson that we learned is SOCIAL DISTANCING.

Social distancing is the only and the most effective way to chase down this invisible enemy, SARS COV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 infection, that’s why we are in complete lockdown globally.

We will be discussing the scientific basis of social distancing, Why we should stay at home to fight against COVID-19?

This discussion is based on scientific data as on April 10, 2020.

Let’s begin with the most significant question, why we are very much ignorant about this Virus?

Why we don’t have an easy solution to combat Coronavirus?

Think of the size of a virus. Viruses are 10-100 times smaller than a bacterium, so, in order to see a bacterium, we need a microscope.

Think of a pinhead, approximately 1-2 mm in diameter, thousands of bacteria can fit on the pinhead.

Then think of a virus, it is 10-100 times smaller than a bacterium; we need an electron microscope to see a virus. It is a highly sophisticated device compared to the simple compound microscope.

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We are actually fighting against an invisible enemy; therefore, it is not an easy deal. We need to learn step by step about the infection mechanism of this virus, we don’t have any previous knowledge.

Now the lesson we learned is the best method to combat this disease is Social Distancing.

What is Social Distancing and how it works?

Suppose a person is infected with coronavirus if he is quarantined, the possibilities are:

• 80% will be developing mild symptoms,
• 15% of the infected have severe symptoms,
• 5% have a critical infection, and
• The survival rate is 97%

If that person is quarantined, the chance of recovery is 97%

If that person is quarantined, it breaks the chain.

The virus undergoes replication within 30 days, our body has an amazing immune system that can combat and clean this virus completely from the body within 30 days.

So, it’s our responsibility and obligation to remain inside our homes once we have some symptoms so that we could prevent the spread of the virus to the next person. It breaks the chain.

If the person is not quarantined, this person can infect another person,

Now we know that this virus infects another person through respiratory droplets of an infected person during coughing, sneezing, etc., or from infected surfaces.

Now, what happens next?

According to the scientific data, each infected person can transmit the disease to approximately 2-2.5 other person,

So this is what is happening, this infected person can infect other 2 persons, then those persons can infect other 2, then it becomes 4, then it becomes 8, like that, there will be an exponential rise in the spread of the disease.

This is the case with a one-to-one infection. It will increase like 2,4,8,16,32, like that.

Think about this situation, one or two infected persons in a crowd or a public gathering, we cannot even count the numbers of the infected persons through these two.

This happened in many cities around the globe, at that time we were not that much aware of how this virus causes infection,

Now, the lesson we learned specifically tells us that Social distancing is an effective way to slow down this Coronavirus Pandemic.

Now there is no room for an error. The battle is going on and the greatest strategy is to stay at home and prevent exposure to this Coronavirus.

The second question, How this social distancing helps us in combating this disease?

Why do some young people die of Coronavirus?

In the beginning, as per the reports, the majority of mortality occurs among elders, who are with other diseases; they are having a higher chance of mortality due to coronavirus.

Now many reports are coming, health workers, staff, who are very young are getting the virus and they lost their lives.

Why do some young people die of coronavirus?

The reason can be virus load. Here also comes the importance of social distancing.

Suppose, let us take the same example, this is just for the sake of understanding.

So these 100 viruses infected this person, then it is transmitted to the next person, it becomes 1000, then it replicates continuously, it becomes 10k, 100k, and so on.

So the viral load in the surroundings is increasing, we are more and more exposed to the virus as the number of virus or background virus has increased.

Till now we don’t have a specific mechanism to co-relate the virus load with the severity of the infection.

The most probable reason for the death of young people can be correlated to the viral load.

This is simple logic, suppose a person is infected with a hundred viral particles, the immune system can combat easily,

Think of another scenario, the same person is infected with a thousand viruses, then the stress on the immune system is much higher.

Now we know that, as per the latest scientific data, the reason for mortality is CYTOKINE STORM (a hyper-immune reaction towards this virus)

So, once the viral load is increasing inside the body, the body’s immune system will react in such a manner that causes complete devastation of the system that is called HYPER IMMUNE ACTIVITY.

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So it is our obligation and responsibility, once we are having the disease, we will recover sooner or later, but it is our obligation not to spread the disease to the next person.

Here comes the importance of lockdown and quarantine.

This is what we know now as per the virologists and immunologists all around the globe.

So, it is crucial for us to limit all possible exposures to coronavirus, and if we are feeling unwell we need to observe strict self-isolation measures to limit our chance of infecting others.

Often one member in the family should move out for essential businesses like buying essential grocery items, pharmaceuticals, etc. but take all precautions to avoid, to limit all possible exposures to coronavirus.

So, please stay at home, stay healthy, stay safe, and save our loved ones.

Conclusion

We have seen how Social Distancing can save us and our family from a global Pandemic like Coronavirus. We need to have a lot of patience during this time, we need to cooperate with the governments of our respective countries.

Always keep in you mind “IF YOU HAVE LIFE, YOU HAVE THE WORLD“

Do share this article with your friends and family members on Whatsapp and Facebook to tell them the importance of SOCIAL DISTANCING.

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