WHO Changes 'Social Distancing' to 'Physical Distancing' • Hacker News Board

Re: WHO Changes 'Social Distancing' to 'Physical Distancing'

#11

Post by nitrogen » Mon, Mar 23, 2020, 5:01 PM UTC

robocat wrote: post #2

I am hoping we have good science behind the “1.5 metre” distance rule... Does anyone have links to videos that show how breath swirls around, especially in outdoor areas? I guess I could get some pollen and try and model it myself!

You might need to use small droplets rather than pollen to get relevant results. The Ars Technica summary of COVID-19 might have a reference for that distance figure; IIRC it was based on the distance that most droplets travel before falling.

* https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/03/dont-panic-the-compr...

Re: WHO Changes 'Social Distancing' to 'Physical Distancing'

#12

Post by chrismeller » Mon, Mar 23, 2020, 5:04 PM UTC

_ea1k wrote: post #6

Good... the word "social" was always a bit strange as it has nothing to do with the colloquial usage of the word "social".

There are also many cultures that are renowned for being “socially distant”, even if they’re very small, very compact, and very public transit-reliant.

This seems like globalizing a term that was originally very western- (and particularly English-speaking-) centric.

Re: WHO Changes 'Social Distancing' to 'Physical Distancing'

#13

Post by BenoitEssiambre » Mon, Mar 23, 2020, 5:05 PM UTC

You mean I can no longer just ignore people around me?

Re: WHO Changes 'Social Distancing' to 'Physical Distancing'

#14

Post by daveFNbuck » Mon, Mar 23, 2020, 5:05 PM UTC

dleslie wrote: post #5

I prefer the term Quarantine.

Quarantine does not accurately describe what the WHO is asking people to do. Quarantine is when you take potentially infected people and isolate them from the rest of the population, allowing all the unexposed people to go about their days normally.

Edit: Updated to clarify that quarantine is about potential and not actual infection.

Re: WHO Changes 'Social Distancing' to 'Physical Distancing'

#15

Post by idclip » Mon, Mar 23, 2020, 5:05 PM UTC

dleslie wrote: post #5

I prefer the term Quarantine.

Heh. Actually yes

Re: WHO Changes 'Social Distancing' to 'Physical Distancing'

#16

Post by benjohnson » Mon, Mar 23, 2020, 5:05 PM UTC

robocat wrote: post #2

I am hoping we have good science behind the “1.5 metre” distance rule... Does anyone have links to videos that show how breath swirls around, especially in outdoor areas? I guess I could get some pollen and try and model it myself!

"vape cloud competition" finds lots of videos that at first blush would indicate that our distance should be much further away.

As I understand it - the virus combined with droplets is much denser and doesn't float nearly as much.

Re: WHO Changes 'Social Distancing' to 'Physical Distancing'

#17

Post by wenc » Mon, Mar 23, 2020, 5:06 PM UTC

I wonder: who came up with the term "social distancing"? The wikipedia [1] article doesn't say. Was it widely used prior to this?

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_distancing

Re: WHO Changes 'Social Distancing' to 'Physical Distancing'

#18

Post by 7777fps » Mon, Mar 23, 2020, 5:06 PM UTC

robocat wrote: post #2

I am hoping we have good science behind the “1.5 metre” distance rule... Does anyone have links to videos that show how breath swirls around, especially in outdoor areas? I guess I could get some pollen and try and model it myself!

I doubt it's an exact science given that in some countries the advice is 2 metres and in the US I suspect it's a round number of feet...

Re: WHO Changes 'Social Distancing' to 'Physical Distancing'

#19

Post by londons_explore » Mon, Mar 23, 2020, 5:06 PM UTC

nitrogen wrote: post #11

robocat wrote: post #2

I am hoping we have good science behind the “1.5 metre” distance rule... Does anyone have links to videos that show how breath swirls around, especially in outdoor areas? I guess I could get some pollen and try and model it myself!

You might need to use small droplets rather than pollen to get relevant results. The Ars Technica summary of COVID-19 might have a reference for that distance figure; IIRC it was based on the distance that most droplets travel before falling. * https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/03/dont-panic-the-compr...

Behaviour dramatically depends on droplet size. Fog can last many hours and blow many miles before dissipating.

Re: WHO Changes 'Social Distancing' to 'Physical Distancing'

#20

Post by DoreenMichele » Mon, Mar 23, 2020, 5:07 PM UTC

BenoitEssiambre wrote: post #13

You mean I can no longer just ignore people around me?

You can. You just can't justify it as "But the WHO told me to!"

(That's not just snark. I have a compromised immune system. I have been enjoying giving people withering looks and having them walk the hell away and stop breathing on me and what not. That's never really worked before.)