Following the Coronavirus pandemic otherwise known as COVID-19, government at all levels, medical experts and the World Health Organization (WHO) outlined various measures with which to checkmate the spread. One of these measures is social distancing.
The medical definition of social distancing is “a public health practice that aims at preventing sick people from coming in close contact with healthy people in order to reduce opportunities for disease transmission.” Social distancing, or physical distancing according to Wikipedia is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures taken to prevent the spread of a contagious disease by maintaining a physical distance between people and reducing the number of times people come into close contact with each other. By social distancing, one is expected to sit or stand a bit far than the other with at least 1.5 metres.
However, this social distancing seems unachievable among the citizens for obvious reasons. For instance, those in market places, who are always rushing and pushing one another with their goods, bags, baskets or containers for buying or carrying goods can hardly distance from one another. Those who approach shops and kiosks to purchase essentials like detergents, beverages, etc do not distance themselves from others, they troop-in carelessly as they patronize the shop owners. Even those who go to ATM points to withdraw money and those who go to bank for other transactions find it difficult to maintain social distancing.
Those in church services can hardly distance themselves too. If some attempt to do so they may be restrained by their pattern of giving offering which involves queuing-up and dancing around. Burial and wedding events are another set of programmes that the distancing is almost unavoidable though in Abia State, these ceremonies are no longer holding has goverment has placed ban on burial and wedding ceremonies. Even the security agents carrying out the directives are also at risk because it is equally not easy for them to observe social distancing while talking to perceived offenders or trying to punish them. The issue is not different among the health workers, who are most vulnerable to the infection as they equally may find it difficult to distance as they care for patients. A look at business centres, including phone repairers, restaurant, pool centres, even those playing football and involving in other sporting activities like early morning jogging show that they do not maintain social distancing. Worst is the commercial drivers and tricycle (Keke) operators who display fragrant disobedience to the social distancing order. Professionals too, including journalists on duty inadvertently violate this social distancing order. Recently in Lagos, as a popular Nollywood star, Funke Akindele was being arraigned in court for hosting a birthday party that negated preventive measures of Covid 19,
journalists and other media workers were seen clustering her for interview and thereby violated the social distancing order.
One can go on and on with various instances of challenges with the social distancing as a measure to contain the dreaded virus. Apart from these instances, the biggest challenge of social distancing is that while an individual is trying to observe it religiously, other family members, who may be careless about it may fall victim and come back home to infect the one who has maintained social distancing outside the home. This is because they would come back to the same home and stay with a careless family member.
There is no doubt that social distancing is alien to the African culture, particularly Nigerians and Ndi Igbo as our people are known for communualism. Even among our young entrepresising Igbos, one can see five persons sharing one room apartment in places like Lagos; where they live together and go out to ply their trades on daily basis as a result of our culture of togetherness. However, now that social distancing is dawn on us, as a result of COVID 19, we have no option than to appreciate it, adjust our lives and adhere to it for our own good and that of our family members and colleagues. The reason behind social distancing is that if there is no contact, the chances of getting infected is minimal. After all, the virus does not fly nor travel, it is people that move around with it.
In the face of this novel pandemic, every hand must be on deck as all must accept that the virus is real and play their roles in managing the challenges of social distancing as one of the leading preventive measures in combating Covid 19. Everybody, father, mother, son, daughter, clergy man, Traditional Ruler, youth, market woman and others should be disciplined enough to adhere to the social distancing order. Government should enforce the order to the later with every arsenal at its disposal including making legislations to back it up. The media should sustain their campaigns about it so that everyone would be reached. The electronic media in particular should create messages in various languages and dialects to communicate effectively to the people.
By and large, the idea of social distancing as a preventive measure against Coronavirus must be appreciated and applied by all and sundry to ensure the aim is not defeated. The bottom line is this, social distancing, if achieved, is key to winning the war against Covid 19. We all must see social distancing as a necessity that we must adhere to in order to contain this pandemic. In everything, the best approach to managing social distancing is by doing our best and leaving the rest for God and pleading with Him, who we know as Jehovah Rapha, to heal the land and eradicate the virus from us. The time to act is now.
