The distancing will continue for years

Simple measures such as maintaining a safe distance of at least one and a half meters are the recommendations that citizens must abide by in the transition from the isolation phase to the distancing phase, which will begin on May 4.

The distancing will continue for years

The announced is part of the request for citizen co-responsibility made by the Executive for the distancing phase that will begin, depending on the canton.

Health authorities insist on the need for these standards to be taken into account in order to reduce contagion in the country and prevent more people from getting sick and, in the worst case, dying.

The new phase implies that the health emergency and mobility restrictions continue to be in force.

Therefore, the restriction measures continue. The alert that controlling the pandemic will take years was given by public health authorities.

One of the first measures that the Executive established to prevent the spread of the virus is the suspension of massive events and other crowds, such as in churches or places of worship.

This was one of the most important steps to generate social distancing, which, according to Dr. Mariela León, is as simple as “trying to maintain a certain distance between yourself and other people.”

Covid-19 is a virus that is transmitted through droplets of saliva that reach the mouth, nose, or eyes.

Therefore, for León, social distance of at least two meters is essential to prevent these droplets from infecting people.

“Avoiding being at least two meters away can help achieve social distancing,” explained León.

For the doctor, it is not a measure applicable only to people with pre-existing diseases or adulthood. “It is a measure that must be followed even by a young person with no record of disease.

“The solution,” he explained, “is to avoid crowded places or, if it were much better, staying at home so as not to have contact with other people.”

For the epidemiologist, Francisco Solís, these provisions came to stay for several years. In statements to this newspaper, he cited an investigation by Harvard University , in the United States, where the authors explained that the measures that governments impose on different countries may last until 2022. One of them, social distancing.

“Do not go on a bus that is full, do not attend concerts or social celebrations, do not enter banks or coffee shops at peak hours. Furthermore, the measures focus on the absence of peak hours. Those are the mechanisms that we must get used to, “said the epidemiologist.

But not only this measure could be considered in the long term. Another one that is also a priority is hand hygiene. One of the requests made by different social sectors.

For León, the hands are great transmitters of the virus due to the exposure they maintain. “When getting up, the person goes to the toilet to wash their hands, regardless of whether they clean their whole body. There are cases that during the day do not go back to the hand toilet. Those people are the most susceptible to contract the disease. “

Therefore, he requested that while people remain indoors, they go to the bathroom to clean their hands.

On the contrary, if you are on the street or in places where soap and water do not exist, the priority is to have alcohol gel or any alcohol solution that is useful to eliminate viruses from the environment nearby .

For his part, Solís indicated that the use of masks permanently will allow people to avoid infecting others.

“It will be one more accessory in people for a long time. The mask will become the main ally to fight the virus ”, explained the expert. (I)