Are you a Social Distancing Influencer or a Covidiot?

Datasets have outliers, so do populations!

Quarantine-Day 1: Yay! I will save at least 2 hours a day, otherwise spent on traveling.

Quarantine-Day 6: Somehow managed to tick off one of the items on my long time To-Do list.

Quarantine-Day 14: I now know that my curtain blinds have 25 flaps.

Working from home for 2 weeks now. Since I work in IT, I can work from any comfortable place having internet and no disturbance in the background. Well, a coffee machine in the vicinity would be of great help too! #homeoffice

The novel coronavirus pandemic hit the world last year around Christmas. Since then, about 1 million cases have been reported with over 50,000 deaths worldwide. Yeah, that is more than the population of some countries! The eminent health organizations and health professionals around the world have been stressing since to wash your hands frequently and …

PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING. (Also called intermittent distancing)

A study by the University of Sydney proves the efficacy of social distancing. In order to make social distancing productive, it is important that at least 80% Australian population practices Social Distancing. Apparently, what shocked me more is if less than 70% of the population adopts social distancing, it will be ineffective to suppress the spread of the pandemic. A small difference of 10% can have significant effects on the control of the contagious virus.

Like the outliers in a dataset, there exist elements who do not find logic in this advice. Many still continue roaming around. Governments around the world have initiated sudden 14-day or even 21-day lockdowns in order to limit the movement and gathering of people. Such decisions can panic the population. I agree, if the government plans the change well, especially with a large economically diverse population (like India or china), the execution will be welcomed openly by THEIR people.

BUT… What does sitting at home really do?

The collective consciousness principle says, what 5% of the people do, 95% of the people will repeat. What 1% of the population thinks, 99% follow!

Traits of a Social Distancing Influencer:

1. Understand the Crisis:

Along with the pandemic, infodemics have captured the market faster than the virus. I keep myself updated with the WHO. With the extensive social media apps, it is easy to spread your views instantly like wildfire. I said ‚your views’ because one of the major problems that many companies and government authorities are dealing with today is the fake news in circulation. A lot of online giants, like YouTube, wanting to curtail false news, therefore provide the above link on every page that you visit. Making sure that right information reaches the masses. What one can do in this situation is, notify the person sharing the posts/messages that it is not true. It is sensible to remove the post immediately and stop its circulation.

2. Stay at home:

It is a bright summer day. You are bored with your home-office setting, doing skype meetings, lost the human contact for days now. The birds singing, the sun shining are calling you out to enjoy the day with your friends. May be just one ice cream. But NO. That is exactly what we are trying to avoid by staying at home! Not spreading the virus and not becoming hosts to it either.

Don’t be a reason for Community spread. It will only increase fomites in public places.

#shelterinplace #stayhome #staysafe #workfromhome

3. Change enabler:

As a Social and Moral responsibility to keep the condition under control, it is important to practice social distancing yourself first. Then, explain friends and family why we need it in the first place. Say NO to get-togethers or events in your neighborhood/building. Friends asking for a quick jog or cycling? Plan it later. Remember the collective conscious principle mentioned above? Right, be those 5% change enablers.

4. Walk and Shop… but with 1.5m distance:

Yes! It is as easy as it sounds. Maintain 1.5m distance from the people around you no matter where you go outside your home. Unless you want to pay fines and be jailed for momentary fulfilling the ‘roaming outside just for fun’ cravings. At this point, it better to fulfill your sugar cravings!

Have a look at the fines around the world for not practicing social distancing: · Singapore -> $10000 · Michigan -> $1000 · Germany -> €25000 · Australia -> $1000 — $16800 There are still some countries that have no fines but are still embracing and emphasizing Social Distancing.

5. Self-Quarantine / Self-Isolation:

Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, set an example for all of us. She self-quarantined herself when a doctor who reported to her was tested positive. Yes, she understands her responsibility towards her people and is an influencer due to her actions. If nothing else, at least it helps is to flatten the curve. If you come in contact with anybody who is infected or needed to go for work in a crowded place, please self-quarantine yourself. Visit the doctor, get tested. This virus has an incubation period of 2–14 days that’s why self-awareness plays an important role here.

6. Be FIT:

Health first! My gym has been kind to send regular online courses. It keeps my spirits up to workout at home. Online videos on YouTube are a great help too. I finally got time to sharpen my dancing skills too. Consider walking or jogging only if it is permitted and if your surroundings are isolated!

7. Reach out: Respect the helping hands and be one!

We are working from the comfort of our homes but there are people who need to carry out their everyday responsibilities and at the same time protect themselves from the disease. The health professionals, the police, the army, public transport personal, cleaners, not to forget our government officers need to work overtime to render immediate help to the people suffering.

Due to the lockdown, people panic about managing the grocery after the stock at home is over. If you have shelter above your head and food to eat — consider yourself lucky! A lot of the daily wagers have no clue how they will feed the next meal to themselves and their children.

Cannot follow these rules above? I know, Covidiots are all around!

How not to be a COVIDIOT:

1. Fact: Covidiots are Haters that gonna hate!

2. It is not wise to constantly check the death toll and spread panic/fear.

3. Grocery and essentials are still better than hoarding toilet papers and hand sanitizers. Some people burned their hands because they used hand sanitizers before burning the flame for cooking. Folks, wash your hands before cooking, why would someone prefer avoidable chemicals in their food?

4. Superstitions are rising too. Owing to the lack of information about the disease and its cause.

5. One has no time to break their head over people least bothered about the difficult circumstances. They risk theirs and the lives of people around them.

One needs to turn a deaf ear to them. Go ahead with what is the need of the hour. Faster! Don’t lose your time and mind over covidiots.

Another positive point I see here is, speaking from a personal perspective, you never know when you will get so much time again at your disposal. That too from the confront of your home AND without the daily chores hustle. Use this resource to come out with a new skill, a plan for yourself and bond more with your loved ones because they need you right now.

After going over these 7 Points, where do you position yourself? How far have you come on the Influencer List? Let me know in the comments.

I am a #socialdistancinginfluencer 😊 -> 7/7 for me.

I am starting the term and hashtag #socialdistancinginfluencer today! Do take it further and be one!