Buzz
The term 'Quarantine' never truly fit, and 'Reopening' doesn't accurately reflect our situation either. As a society, we're navigating uncharted territory, and our language struggles to encapsulate the enormity of it all. Perhaps it's because we can't name something we can scarcely comprehend.
I first encountered the phrase social distancing when Chinese officials called off New Year festivities in February. It seemed like a detached, top-down term, as if observing from a distance. By March, the term shifted to physical distancing, acknowledging that while we aim to maintain social bonds, we must limit physical closeness. Though many of us are isolating at home, 'physical distancing' still feels inadequate to describe the profound societal disruption we're experiencing.
How do we define the act of remaining at home?
Many of us casually refer to quarantine: #QuarantineLife, quarantinis. In public health terms, quarantine applies to individuals suspected of carrying an infectious agent but not yet displaying symptoms. On the other hand, those showing symptoms are placed in isolation.
However, isolation also carries a general connotation of loneliness. Thus, we use self-isolating even when illness isn't the context. If you're alone in your apartment, you undoubtedly feel isolated.
Staying home is partly about caution and managing personal risk tolerance. However, it's also influenced by government regulations, such as business closures. These measures aren't exactly shelter-in-place orders, as that term originates from threats like active shooters or radioactive fallout. A stay-at-home order is more accurate, though walking outside is often permitted. Calling it a lockdown or shutdown doesn't quite fit either. The point is, we lack precise language to describe our current actions and restrictions.
What term describes the phase that follows?
In health contexts, quarantine is binary: you're either quarantined until symptoms appear or a set period ends, or you're free. A lockdown concludes when restrictions are lifted, and a stay-at-home order is revoked, presumably allowing us to leave our homes again.
Had we successfully halted the virus's spread with a strict two-week lockdown, a straightforward reopening might have sufficed. However, that’s no longer the scenario we’re facing.
Cities, states, and nations will gradually lift restrictions—if not immediately, then in the near future. Tradeoffs are already in place: hospitals and grocery stores remain operational, and families quarantine (or whatever term we use) together. Even before the virus is fully contained, some measures may need to be relaxed.
We’ll exist in a gray zone, likely for years, where society won’t be entirely locked down nor fully open. This, too, is unprecedented: Should restaurants reopen first or last? Where do schools fit into this spectrum? When can hospitals restart elective procedures? If no one is preventing you from visiting friends, when is it truly safe to do so?
The term reopening fails to capture the complexity of this situation. Using a single, definitive name makes it seem like flipping a light switch—our lives were normal, then suddenly plunged into darkness. But reversing it isn’t as simple as flipping the switch back.
We require a new term to describe this phase. The WHO refers to it as easing restrictions, while some governors use terms like phases or levels.
What term should we use to describe this situation? Is there a more fitting phrase than 'staying at home when possible due to fear of contracting a fatal illness and/or following orders that some support and others oppose'? Similarly, what should we call 'gradually resuming proximity to others while a deadly virus continues to spread'? What labels have you used for these scenarios? If you could create a new term, what would it be?
