Intelligent Social Distancing: A Signaling System to Stop COVID-19
Wear red, orange and green colored ribbons, armbands, wristbands or caps
What is Intelligent Social Distancing? As we are intelligent human beings, we may tag ourselves with a color to show our infection status. Instead of social distancing, we might opt for intelligent social distancing.
Green
Green shows that the person has undergone testing, and the result was negative. This person is safe at this moment.
Red
Red means that the person has undergone testing, and the result was positive. This person is not safe at this point.
Orange
Orange symbolizes that the person has not been tested. This person might not be safe at this time.
Wear green, red or orange ribbons, armbands, wristbands, rubber bands or caps
These ribbons or wristbands might become a part of the common dress code. By wearing an orange-colored wristband, we reveal our infection status to a stranger. We may even paste a green, red, or orange sticker on our mask to declare our infection status.
The stranger would instinctively know the status. As intelligent social distancing becomes more popular, people will subconsciously process the color information.
Pool testing¹ to convert orange to green
Initially, most of the people will be orange. All the governments of the world should opt for pool testing to change more people from orange to green. Pool testing is a better option due to the lack of testing kits worldwide. Germany is already using this method. It may be pools of five or ten people that are initially tested.
Swab samples from mucous of the throat or nose are combined using specified procedures in a buffer solution, and subsequently tested using a method called the PCR procedure (polymerase chain reaction procedure, direct genome detection of SARS CoV-2). In the case of a negative result, all samples have a reliable negative result¹. ~Professor Erhard Seifried
Why this color scheme?
This color scheme makes the most sense. It is already generally accepted because of the international traffic signal lights.
Green = Go or safe to move
Orange = Wait or be cautious
Red = Stop or danger.
The inspiration behind this tagging system
The idea came to my mind while I was reading about the human immune system. Our immune system uses tags to identify threats.
We have billions of helpful and harmless bacteria moving in and out of our bodies all day long. However, when a dangerous bacteria or a pathogen enters our system, our immune system detects the pathogen. It tags it with a molecule called ubiquitin³, known as the “kiss of death.” Then special molecules called guanylate binding proteins (GBPs) bind to the membranes of the pathogen-containing vacuoles and destroy the threat.
To get rid of these pathogens, the immune system essentially has to find a needle in a haystack,” said Jörn Coers, Ph.D., senior author of the study at Duke University School of Medicine ³
Since we are all intelligent human beings we can tag ourselves and make finding-a-needle-in-the-haystack very easy. This way, without asking someone, we can guide our course of action by a coordinated mutual effort.
As the orange to green ratio might decrease with time, the need for such a tagging system would become more apparent.
Why choose Intelligent Social Distancing immediately
The reason this system needs to be implemented immediately is that, until the vaccine for COVID-19 is ready for human trials, the threat level is going to remain high in public perception. When the complete lockdown is relaxed, such a system might help allay our fears to some extent.
Gypsyamber D’Souza, Ph.D., MS, and David Dowdy, MD, Ph.D., have written in their article⁴ that herd immunity is a good defense against coronavirus when most of the population has been exposed to the infectious disease.
What is herd immunity? When most of a population is immune to an infectious disease, this provides indirect protection — or herd immunity (also called herd protection) — to those who are not immune to the disease ⁴.
At least, 70% to 90% of the population should be immune to the virus to achieve herd immunity. This means that a lot of people will have to develop their own antibodies against the virus, after becoming infected, or become immune with the help of an effective vaccine. Considering these percentages, I am afraid that this disease might be with us for another year and a half.
Even when a person becomes immune after getting infected, this immunity will last for months to years and not for the entire life. The coronavirus continuously mutates over time, making it difficult for the scientists to produce a vaccine that is 100 percent effective⁴.
Role of other tracking technologies
Advanced tracking technologies can help to trace new cases and help prevent new pockets of confirmed cases from growing rapidly. Artificial Intelligence supported technologies² coupled with Intelligent Social Distancing may result in lessening the fear of the infection. It might also make people more careful and informed about their surroundings.
All of us will have to react responsibly
Once all of us become used to seeing this type of color-coding, it may become a subconscious level habit to act accordingly. The interpretation of these colors and subsequent actions may be debatable; just remember that a red may green tomorrow and a green may be red after some time. However, we can think of some basic reactions:
Red Color Tag
If you have a flu or a cold or any other kind of fever, you should use red color until you recover completely.
When you see someone with a red color tag, you must maintain a distance of six feet from the person at all times.
Red tagged persons should be tested on priority by designated hospitals if they have the symptoms. The common symptoms are fever, tiredness, and dry cough. Some people may experience aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat, or diarrhea.
Orange Color Tag
If you have no symptoms and you have not been tested yet, you should use an orange color tag.
When you see someone with an orange color tag, you must maintain a distance of six feet from the person.
Orange tagged individuals should be pool tested by the Government, in groups of five or ten.
Green Color Tag
If you have no symptoms and you have been tested with a negative result, you should use a green color tag.
When you see someone with a green color tag, you must maintain a distance of six feet from her to protect her. In case both persons have green tags, they may choose to be comparatively relaxed.
Green tagged people might be pool tested by the Government in groups of ten, if new cases are traced in the neighborhood.
Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and other social media
If we know the infection status of somebody standing next to us, we can instinctively choose to act more cautiously. When the lockdown will be relaxed, fear of infection will add to our life stress. The levels of anxiety may reach intolerable levels for some individuals. But with intelligent social distancing the fear may decrease somewhat if people act responsibly.
Intelligent Social Distancing might be a fun idea to implement. All available social media channels can be used to instantly broadcast this message to billions of people in a few days.
There is always room for improvement of an idea
I believe I might have missed some of the finer points. If you have a suggestion or comment, please share it with me. I’ll gladly incorporate a good suggestion.
References:
- https://healthcare-in-europe.com/en/news/corona-pool-testing-increases-worldwide-capacities-many-times-over.html
- https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/covid-19-coronavirus-tracking-technology/
- https://today.duke.edu/2015/09/kissofdeath
- https://www.jhsph.edu/covid-19/articles/achieving-herd-immunity-with-covid19.html
- You can read more about Herd Immunity.
