![Social Distancing practice encouraged by people to help mitigate spread of coronavirus, involving staying at home as much as possible and avoiding crowds.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/mobile/000/033/210/maxresdefault.jpg)
Social Distancing
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About
Social Distancing is a practice encouraged to help mitigate the spread of the Coronavirus involving staying indoors and avoiding crowded areas such as bars, restaurants, concerts, sporting events, etc. The practice was widely encouraged on social media and caused people to self-isolate, which in turn led to humorous posts and video representations of people dealing with being stuck indoors.
Origin
On March 5th, 2020, amidst the Coronavirus outbreak, the CDC recommended "social distancing" as a strategy for mitigating the spread of the virus.[1][4] The strategy involves encouraging workers to work from home if possible, banning large gatherings of people, and ultimately attempting to maintain a 6-10 foot physical distance from others wherever possible. A drastic iteration of the strategy was implemented by China in late January of 2020,[2] who put entire cities in quarantine. It proved effective in slowing the rate of new cases of the illness.[3]
Spread
Western news publications began writing articles about social distancing and its effectiveness shortly after the CDC's recommendation, with pieces appearing in USA Today,[5] The New York Times,[6] The Atlantic,[7] and others. Major cities and states soon implemented drastic measures related to enforcing social distancing as well. For example, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut placed restrictive measures on restaurants and banned gatherings of more than 50 people.[8]
Day X of Quarantine
As people began practicing social distancing, internet users began making jokes and humorous videos about their time in isolation, often with the snowclone, "Day X of Quarantine." For example, Twitter user @loveofhuns[9] posted an image of show called Loose Women discussing how an earthworm would wear a bra, gaining over 1,000 likes (shown below, left). Twitter user @Michael1979[10] joked that he'd immediately broken quarantine to get a Twix, gaining over 140,000 retweets and 970,000 likes (shown below, right).
![how would an earthworm wear a bra Love of huns @loveofhuns U OK HUN Day 1 of #selfisolating x How would an earthworm wear a bra? Lgose WOMEN](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/787/787/d29.png)
![Twix Sir Michael @Michael1979 QUARANTINE DIARY Day 1:I have stocked up on enough non-perishable food and supplies to last me for months, maybe years, so that I can remain in isolation for as long as it takes to see out this pandemic Day 1+ 45 minutes: I am in the supermarket because I wanted a Twix 4:53 PM Ā· Mar 12, 2020 Ā· Twitter Web App](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/787/789/32d.png)
Others posted videos illustrating the humorous cabin fever they'd been going through due to the outbreak. For example, Twitter user @MorphineDreamzzz posted a blind pillow fight, gaining over 930 retweets and 4,800 likes (shown below, top). User @keddie44 posted a clip from Jelle's Marble Runs, gaining over 17,000 retweets and 49,000 likes (shown below, bottom).
day 2 of the quarantine.. pic.twitter.com/SZ0FRwQj1s
ā MĪ¦rĻhĪ¹Ī·Īµā®DrĪµĪ±É±zzā¢ (@MorphineDreamzz) March 15, 2020
Day 3 Without Sports: I have fully convinced myself that marble racing is the sport of the future pic.twitter.com/ofttKuSQsF
ā Kevin Edwards (@keddie44) March 14, 2020
Various Examples
![Basketball LakeShowYo @LakeShowYo Day 2 without basketball: I took an extra step back from the toilet just so I can see someone pull up from 3](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/787/795/0b5.png)
![Tinder Meredith @meralee727 Quarantine Day 2: Spending the day alternating between Instacart and looking for men to spend the apocalypse with on Tinder. My opening line? "I have hand sanitizer." 1:46 PM Ā· Mar 14, 2020 Ā· Twitter for iPhone](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/787/798/624.png)
![That 70s show sloane @skipper Day 1 of Self-quarantine: Man, time really flies when you take two naps a day.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/787/803/16b.png)
![earth balance t---- Zoƫ Ligon @thongria Day 2 of quarantine and even the Earth Balance is arousing hata nce](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/787/806/de0.png)
![uncut gems Mamba Mentality @EyelessSilas Day 3 without sports: BetOnWeather.io Bet on the weather LEKIL Beat your local meteorologist. Make money. Sign Up Learn More BET ON THE WEATHER $1337.69 8 9:56 AM Ā· Mar 14, 2020 Ā· Twitter for Android II](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/787/807/e21.png)
![Panda Rex Chapman @RexChapman Me rn social distancing. Hang tough, everybody...](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/787/814/823.png)
Search Interest
External References
[1] CDC ā Implementation of Mitigation Strategies for Communities
with Local COVID-19 Transmission
[2] Quartz ā Chinaās mass coronavirus quarantine was impossible to get right
[3] Deadline ā As Chinaās Coronavirus Cases Slow, Are Re-Openings Of Movie Theaters Far Behind?
[4] CDC ā Interim US Guidance for Risk Assessment and Public Health Management of Persons with Potential Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Exposures
[5] USA Today ā 7 myths about social distancing, busted
[6] New York Times ā Wondering About Social Distancing?
[7] Atlantic ā The Dos and Donāts of āSocial Distancingā
[8] CNBC ā NY, NJ, Connecticut coordinate restrictions on restaurants, limit events to fewer than 50 people
[9] Twitter ā loveofhuns
[10] Twitter ā Michael1979
Top Comments
Nedhitis
Mar 16, 2020 at 12:35PM EDT
Mistress Fortune
Mar 16, 2020 at 04:27PM EDT