[ad_1]
One of the most successful countries in the fight against covid-19, New Zealand allowed its citizens to expand, in a limited way, the circle of contacts; Understand how this proposal works and why it is being evaluated by various governments.
With the extension of quarantine in many countries that have been isolated for weeks, and the lack of clarity on how to get out of it without dramatically increasing cases of covid-19, the spirit of the people is eroding.
In addition to the economic blow that it represents for those who depend on daily work outside the home for their livelihood or chaos for mothers and fathers who need to juggle to work at home and care for their children, many suffer the impact of loneliness and lack physical contact.
For this reason, one of the strategies that some governments are considering to overcome this impasse is to create or expand the so-called “social bubbles”.
The term began to gain importance after New Zealand, one of the most successful countries in the fight against the pandemic, announced the reduction of its alarm level from 4 to 3.
While the recommendation to stay home and avoid social interactions as much as possible, the new rules that came into effect last week authorize the population to expand their circle of contacts.
“People must remain within the bubble of their home, but they can expand it to reconnect with their family or to bring caregivers or help isolated people,” says the government on its website, “as long as everyone lives in the same city.”
Contact between this group of people must be exclusive: that is, the people who are part of this bubble cannot be part of another.
“This approach is a way to increase social contact and minimize the risk of disease transmission, because if an infection occurs, it remains in the bubble and will not be passed on to others,” explains Stefan Flasche, associate professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
“It is an efficient way to relax restrictions that are, in principle, feasible in almost all situations where the number of infections is no longer increasing,” he says.
In his opinion, it is an important tool to face the situation, while the search for a vaccine continues, “although each country should prioritize what measures should be done with greater urgency.”
No more than 10
Although the proposal implemented in New Zealand does not define a number of individuals per unit (although obviously the idea of a bubble is exactly small), other governments evaluating the possibility of incorporating this strategy establish a limit of 10 people.
The British government said it was considering relaxing social isolation measures by allowing “social bubbles”; the idea would be to allow a family group to combine with two or three other groups, also exclusively.
The idea is also being considered, among others, by Scotland, Canada and Belgium.
For Per Block, co-author of a study led by the University of Oxford on strategies based on the restructuring of our social relationships to flatten the covid-19 curve after quarantine, the advantages of this model are evident.
“The stricter the quarantine, the greater the cost to people’s social life and psychological well-being,” the researcher told BBC Mundo. “There is a big difference between meeting some people or being alone at home, especially for people who are psychologically vulnerable, or who are in an insecure situation, or who need physical contact for their mental well-being.”
Brian Dow, Deputy Executive Director of Rethink Mental Illnes, a British NGO committed to promoting the rights of people affected by mental health problems, believes that this policy will be beneficial as long as it is well managed.
“This would allow people to lessen the anxiety they felt about being trapped in their homes,” he told the BBC. “People have been very creative (in terms of socialization), but frankly, what they need now is just a hug.”
How to assemble your bubble
But how does a family or group sharing a house set their bubble without too much trouble and headaches, accepting some, rejecting others, and leaving everyone in the house satisfied?
“It is a delicate task, because you need to make a social contract with other people who are in your bubble and make sure that everyone stays within it, and that is based on trust,” says Block.
There are also many other factors to consider, such as different generations living together under one roof.
“If it were up to me and my partner, we would certainly be fine communicating digitally with our friends, but we have a four-year-old daughter and her situation is worse, because she misses physical interaction with her friends because she cannot communicate digitally.” “says Flasche.
“Therefore, you should carefully consider who in the house needs to further expand their personal bubble and create a unit according to who really needs it.”
Another important thing, says Block, is to create a bubble with a geographically close group (such as neighbors who are friends and with a similar family structure), so that “in case of infection, you can limit the distance from which the disease spreads “
What will the success of this strategy depend on?
The answer is simple, according to the interviewees: that people follow the rules.
It is not forever, but it is “an intermediate solution between now and perhaps a year from now when we will interact normally again,” says Block.
“I see this as an opportunity for society,” says Lasche.
If people follow the rules and limit their contacts as much as possible, this can be a viable and sustainable strategy that makes quarantine more tolerable in the long term, “he says.
“If we do not comply with the regulations and establish more contacts, the disease will spread and we will have to return to more severe isolation. That is why it is in everyone’s interest that this is not the case,” he adds.
New Zealand, where the social bubble strategy is already underway, will re-evaluate on May 11 how to move forward.
