19 Mar 2020 update: Chart was updated based on email exchanges with the three experts who supplied the original answers. See bottom of this post for earlier version of chart. Dr. Watson suggests the term “Physical Distancing” rather than the commonly used “Social Distancing,” because “We need to maintain social contacts for our mental health, but they should be virtual or at a distance now.”
This chart is based on an online article in The Atlantic. It contains my summary of the author’s interview with three public health experts. All questions and answers are included except for two about quarantine, which can be summarized as “if you are in quarantine, don’t let people in with you and don’t go out where there are other people.”
In the chart, each row has a question and answers from three experts. The answers are color coded on severity, with pinkish for “don’t do it”, yellowish for “do it with these cautions”, and green for “do it”. The questions are ordered and shaded according to severity of the average advice.
“Social Distancing” is the practice of reducing contact with other people in order to limit the spread of the disease. Many sources are now recommending this as a key way to deal with COVID19.
An Earlier Version of Chart
