MOH Scraps “Social Distancing” For Something Far More Effective
TBH, “social distancing” never made any sense.
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The Health Ministry (MOH) announced on social media that it will retire the term “social distancing” for something far more accurate as new Covid-19 clusters emerged rapidly in July.
It’s called “physical distancing” now.
Pengumuman.
— KKMPutrajaya (@KKMPutrajaya) July 31, 2020
Istilah penjarakan sosial kini diganti dengan penjarakan fizikal. #COVID19#KitaJagaKita #KitaMestiMenang
Announcing the new term on 31 July, the Health Ministry explains that it is more suited for the one-metre apart distancing between individuals for their health and safety.
The term is also recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to its member countries as it is far more accurate from a medical point of view.
In fact, WHO has been advocating the use of “physical distancing” instead of “social distancing” since March 2020.
The reason is because “social distancing” can imply a disconnection between loved ones and family.
Keeping the physical distance from people so that we can prevent the virus from transferring to one another; that’s absolutely essential. But it doesn’t mean that socially we have to disconnect from our loved ones, from our family. We’re changing to say physical distance and that’s on purpose because we want people to still remain connected.
Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO COVID-19 technical lead & infectious disease epidemiologist.
According to the US Centres of Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC) the term physical distancing means keeping a safe space between yourself and other people who are not from your household.
WHO recommends keeping a distance of at least one-metre apart and avoid spending time in crowded places or in groups to break the chain of transmission.
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