Remember physical distancing? The first line of defense against COVID, and probably a big part of why the flu season was so mild last year. Remember how you’d go for a walk, and even outside, people would give you a wide berth? Remember the one-way lanes in grocery stores, the signs telling us to keep two metres apart, and so forth?
Over the past few months, I’ve noticed that many people seem to have forgotten the importance of physical distance during a pandemic. I’ll be reaching for produce in the grocery store only to discover someone’s breathing head a few inches from my own. I’ll walk down an aisle and see someone coughing up a lung but not steering clear of others. I often wait before going through doorways or proceeding down hallways in order to give others some space, but more often than not, people will say, “It’s OK, go ahead.” Is it really OK? I’m not sure. I usually just wait. I’ve come to enjoy waiting, actually.
Yes, a large proportion of the Canadian population is fully vaccinated, but the delta variant driving the fourth wave is so contagious that even fully vaccinated people are catching it. In previous months, we didn’t know anyone who had caught COVID, but now, we personally know at least 7-10 people who have caught the virus despite being fully vaccinated. One thing all of these folks have in common is that they spent a significant amount of time in crowded places with other people, without physical distancing or masking.
I appreciate the metaphor CBC radio house doctor, Dr. Peter Lin, uses: Vaccines are the goalie in a hockey game. You really don’t want the opposing team to put a lot of pressure on the goalie or get to take many shots, as one of them is bound to get through at some point. Goalies aren’t perfect, nor are vaccines. In fact, the best save percentage of all time for a hockey goalie is around 92%. Pretty good, but not perfect. If 60 shots occur in a game, that’s about 5 goals – a good number of goals for a hockey game and often quite sufficient to win the game. Even the most effective COVID vaccines are probably less effective against the delta variant. The best way to prevent goals is for your defense to keep the opposing team out your zone. With COVID, a good defense includes physical distancing and masking.
I know that we might be in the home stretch with this pandemic, and that fully vaccinated people are less likely to get severely ill even if they contract the virus. I’ve even heard people say that those who choose to not get vaccinated are rolling the dice and deserve what they get. Although I understand it (I kind of make a living understanding people!), this kind of reasoning isn’t consistent with my values. I wouldn’t want my laxity about physical distancing to lead to serious illness for anyone – vaccinated or not.
I’m going to continue to practice mindful physical distancing when I’m in public around other people. My comfort bubble with unknown people is a little wider than two metres. I know it’s not always convenient to maintain this bubble, it takes longer to get stuff done, and it might even seem unfriendly at times. It’s a bit of a pain, indeed, to have to remember your shopping list and other to-dos while also keeping track of how close you are to other people. Nevertheless, with the mindfulness skill of observing, you can practice becoming attuned to where you are in your surroundings and noticing the sound of someone sidling up next to you. Observing involves being open to your immediate experience through all of your senses – vision, touch, sound, sight, and smell. If you can smell someone, you’re definitely too close. ~Alexander L. Chapman, Ph.D., R.Psych.