Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

An expert guide to social distancing – and what to do if friends and

Officials around the world say that “social distancing” is the key to slowing the spread of coronavirus. But does that mean you can have friends over, and what do you do if you live with someone who’s throwing caution to the wind? We asked three experts for their thoughts. Dr Thomas Chin-Chia Tsai: “Avoid situations where there are crowds.
That doesn’t mean that people have to go into self-isolation, unless they have actual symptoms and need to self-quarantine. It’s OK to go for a walk outside. You can still get takeout from restaurants.

If you’re asymptomatic, you can still maintain your family relationships as you otherwise would – just avoid larger groups. It’s still just about decreasing the frequency of interactions.”Dr Arthur L Caplan: “Right now, mental health has to take a secondary place. Stay indoors, stay away from others as much as you can, and get your food delivered.

Minimize your trips out for medicine or to the grocery store. Bring your hand sanitizer and use it all the time. Don’t shake hands. Don’t use paper money. Get ready to do a lot of television watching. You should call your shut-in parents and so forth.”

Dr Jessica Justman: “If gatherings are small, I am still going to say it’s generally OK, depending on who the individuals are. The CDC guidelines for people living in the New Rochelle containment area specifically talk about older individuals with chronic health conditions trying to limit themselves to social gatherings with fewer than 10 people.

In Austria, [officials] said you shouldn’t be with more than five. I honestly think these are numbers that people are pulling out of the air, but people need guidelines.”Tsai: “Assuming that everybody’s asymptomatic, then it’s probably safe. But within the confines of that social interaction, still practice social distancing. Be careful about surfaces that are being touched or shared.

Making sure everybody washes his hands and cleans surfaces. Maybe don’t shake hands. It’s still important to maintain social relationships, but do it in a thoughtful way.”(In guidelines published Monday, the UK government advises against having visitors to your home, especially if you are over the age of 70, pregnant or have underlying health conditions.)

Tsai: “I would recommend that you would still follow the same social distancing principles. The ultimate goal is to break the chain of transmission. If you can maintain your own distance sort of respectfully, then you can still minimize not just the risk to yourself but also the risk from you potentially transmitting to other friends and families in your social circle.

Each individual is an opportunity to break that transmission. So even though others around you may be in less than ideal social distancing scenarios, there’s an important individual obligation to do what you can within reasonable or social bounds.”Caplan: “Do your best to socially distance. Maybe don’t sleep in the same bed? Minimize sexual contact. Don’t share toothbrushes. Try to
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×