Measuring the effect of social distancing on germ transmission in northern countries that culturally have historically had social distancing as a societal norm during the period of anti-viral recommendations distributed to the public by government health officials around the world to curb the spread of infections of Coronavirus 2019 presents us with somewhat of a marginal paradigm shift.
Historically, northern countries such as Canada, Russia, Poland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, the UK, Iceland, Germany and others, have developed a culture in which mistrust of foreigners from far away lands was common, and social distancing was a cultural norm, even often perpetuated by parents towards children and vice versa – often taught by the parents to the children to “prepare them for the harshness of the world”.
Over time, the culture expanded to include such tactics as social isolation used as a hostile way of forcing new community members to assimilate, to accept little in exchange for a lot, to psychologically and emotionally disarm someone with different energy levels than oneself without direct confrontation, or denying them opportunities that are presented within the community in order to retain and establish a sense of hierarchy among newcomers.
In modern times, this culture of social distancing is not seen one of hostility, but one of civility, anonymity and privacy. It is seen as a beacon of creating a peaceful environment, one in which people are free to think, be creative and to foster human independence. This way an individual becomes a unique entity, instead of part of a collective mindset. On the surface, this would seem to be the ideology.
However, the lack of frequency in social intercourse means that individuals are much more likely to develop habits that are similar to others in the community, and where you have forced assimilation that models a certain conceptual realization of “civility” and mental conditioning towards “peaceful behavior”, one loses on the uniqueness factor as it pertains to personality.
Personality is much dependent on social freedom and general social flexibility of a population. If in formal environments such as business and school, the majority of where we spend our time outside of home, where people are strictly brainwashed into behaving a certain way that is seen as acceptable and follows a certain hierarchy and artificial level of respect towards one’s fellow man, are not a heavy influencing force on the general population, it would not be a factor in determining social flexibility.
Social flexibility would therefore translate to the workplace and classroom as well, and home behavior and ideas would spill and mix, creating an environment in which people are more honest about their opinions, and everyone would by default subconsciously formulate ways to work on their image, their uniqueness and their place in the universe.
Many of these northern countries are not experiencing as many infected as others. Much of the routine for many of their residents has not changed. Life has certainly changed during this epidemic, and many citizens have felt it, and many businesses have closed down. Millions have become jobless in the otherwise very developed and complex economy that the Western world and northern countries in general possess, in a very short period of time.
This social distancing does not require any extra effort, as most citizens already practice it. This is the huge advantage that these countries have to begin with, over say countries like Italy and Iran, where people did not previously adhere to social distancing as much, or to China, where while people are formal in comparison to the latter two, had urban designs similar to European cities, in which similarly large populations would be clumped together over a similar land area, as opposed to the urban design of North American cities, in the US and Canada, that have historically built their cities wide, with lots of space between buildings.
If you add social distancing into the mix already being a cultural norm, instead of hugs and kisses being the norm between friends and family as in Italy, for example, the handshake that was already considered among the most cordial and common greeting, the epitome of human touch between strangers and colleagues in North America, is similarly being avoided.
Social distancing when it pertains to health guidelines is more along the lines of germ transmission physics. When a person talks, coughs or sneezes, they spray a fine mist often invisible to the human eye that carries the virus with it. But as with bullet drop, eventually this mist succumbs to the gravity of Terra, our planet.
As it gets sucked by the gravity it falls to surfaces such as tables, chairs, countertops, desks, floors, doors and so fourth. Here it can be touched and stay on a person’s skin, until they touch an orifice such as their mouth or eyes, where they can travel inside the body and infect the host organism.
While it also might not take much effort for northerners to keep their distance from other people, it is also difficult and presents a challenge, in terms of memory. They must remember to do this consciously, as they can often forget, knowing that people keep their distance whether or not there was a virus epidemic. Even with mass media and signs in shops being erected, that give us reminders of health wise best practices to avoid spreading and potentially getting infected with COVID-19, we often tend to ignore them in our quiet comfort and forget.
Transmission therefore might occur accidentally, such as when person opens the door for another, then the other person holds the door open for the person that opened the door for them, such as in Canada. It is through forgetfulness like this that the infection might spread.
Otherwise social distancing as a cultural norm is not much effected. Outside of gatherings in shops, businesses, gyms, places of worship and so fourth being temporarily banned, social precautions are not felt and not exaggerated.
At least, they don’t feel that way.