Why Physical Distancing Matters
With No Social Distancing
With no social distancing, one asymptomatic person, meaning they show no symptoms or have mild symptoms, can infect 2.5 people over five days.
Those 2.5 people then infect 2.5 people, and so on. Within a month, 245 or more could be infected.
After two months, the number of infected is 59,605, and by three months, it could be in the tens of millions.
With a 50% Less Exposure
When an asymptomatic person limits social interactions by 50%, they can infect 1.25 people over five days.
By one month, that number of infected is 5. That’s 50 times less than no distancing.
After three months, it’s 50 or so infected. It’s a shocking difference to the tens of millions potentially infected with no social distancing.
With a 75% Less Exposure
A 75% reduction is where the math plays out interestingly. At this level of social distancing, a person could infect 0.625 over five days. Since you can’t infect a portion of a person, you’re going to infect one person or 0. The chain of infection effectively ends.
With social distancing, we go from millions potentially infected over three months down to 50 or less. Pair distancing with some tried and tested prevention advice, and over time, we end the pandemic.