[What is the effect of social distancing on the course of COVID-19 epidemic?]

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic challenged both public health specialists and authorities to implement non-pharmaceutical interventions aimed at limiting the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infections. The concept of social distancing is about limiting contacts between people, which breaks virus transmission chains, delays the increase in the number of infected people in the population and prevents overloading of health care systems. Many countries, including Poland, implemented a number of interventions aimed at limiting the number of infections and slowing down the tempo of the pandemic's spread. These are, among others, mass-scale testing, isolation of infected individuals, hand hygiene, breath etiquette and wearing mascs. Apart from these, a number of restrictions were enforced to ensure social distancing, such as closing down schools and universities, forbidding organising large parties and mass gatherings, limiting travels and use of public transport, increasing awareness of the public opinion on the necessity to stay at home, up to even introducing full lockdown with only the right to go out to buy food and medication or use the health care system. These interventions were gradually introduced in particular countries, in different ways, to a greater or lesser extent. Their effectiveness is largely influenced by the socio-economic and cultural factors, the nature of political and healthcare systems as well as the operating procedures used during their implementation. The implemented social distancing strategies prove to be effective, especially when combined with such actions as mass-scale testing, tracking contact chains, isolation and quarantine. The current work aims at making an overview of selected social distancing strategies and assessing their effectiveness in slowing down COVID-19 epidemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; non-pharmaceutical interventions; pandemics; physical distance; social distance.