Social distancing is a term everyone has heard thousands of times since the COVID-19 outbreak. Everyone knows what it means and how to do it; yet, we still see people ignoring the advice of our most knowledgeable doctors and scientists just so they can hang out with their friends.
We at The Tower believe that social distancing is an entirely necessary practice. Those who choose to ignore it are valuing their ability to go out over, potentially, the lives of thousands. They are acting selfishly, just because they are young, and the virus may not be as bad for them.
Removing yourself from the cycle of daily life limits the chance of you spreading the disease, whether you have it yet or not. Spending time with one friend connects everyone you’ve been in contact with to everyone they’ve been in contact with. With that one interaction, it reaches an exponentially large number of people down the line.
No one wants to be at home. It’s never good to be isolated in one spot for so long for numerous reasons.We understand that some students may not have the best home environment or rather be in your own routine. This is why it is essential for us to build a support network for each other remotely. If we don’t social distance, we will overload the healthcare system; more people will die. It’s not about us. It’s about the well-being of our nation.
In Italy, doctors have to choose which patient gets the right to a ventilator. Younger people are given them first, leaving older people to die on their own. We don’t want to see that happen here. It’s likely that people you know will get this disease and die from it— there is a lot we cannot control. However, social distancing is one guaranteed thing that you can do to help the crisis.
We at The Tower understand the frustrations of seniors missing out on their experiences of high school. It’s a terrible misfortune that this crisis happened at the time it did, but if we don’t take the necessary steps to slow down the spread, end-of-year festivities will be the least of people’s worries. This needs to be contained before more is lost.
China has all but fully recovered in around three months after strict social distancing and isolation. On March 19, they saw zero new cases. They have almost fully contained and eliminated the virus. If we look outwards to three months from now, we are looking at mid-June. We have the potential to be back in full swing by summertime.
We at The Tower implore to you exercise the advice the knowledgeable people of the world are giving you. Please don’t go hang out with your friends. Please don’t throw any parties. This is not a vacation. This is a global pandemic that will kill thousands on its own and thousands more if we don’t take action.
Every single person has a duty to social distance. You will likely be responsible for more cases if you do not. Take this action now— before it’s too late. Stay home. Save lives.