Social distancing is the buzzword. Humans must keep their distance from each other. This is the law imposed by COVID-19.
But in fact the distance is now everywhere.

Reinventing social ties

I come from an African village. A few weeks ago it was unthinkable to greet each other without shaking hands. It was unthinkable not to be able to share meals as a group. Then a virus appeared,called COVID-19 and that has forced humans to keep a good distance from each other.

A villager asked me this question with concern: how will we do if we can no longer be together? I tried to reassure him by saying that the disease will be overcome. Admittedly the virus will undoubtedly be tamed, but the fear of contacts which will durably affect the lifestyles.

We have to learn to do things together while keeping distance. Today I live in a big city in Europe. At the end of the quarantine period, people will take the train, go to the cinema, stadium, nightclub, swimming pool, but they will always be afraid of taking another virus somewhere... from a human.

Remote working

As an IT consultant, I have the opportunity to work from my home. COVID-19 has shown that teleworking can be generalized for the majority of service delivery occupations. Why clog up transport and office buildings when half the people can work from home? I bet that after the crisis homeworking will be better accepted and enforced. Why not?

Remote school

My 10 year old son discovered that he can go to school without leaving home. Such an experience will mark millions of children around the world. The classical school will also adapt to the distance between teachers and students.

Remote church

Even if the practice of following the religious cult on TV is widespread in developed countries, several communities have experienced Sunday mass from home. The same goes for Friday prayer for Muslims.

So what's next ?

Social distancing will not suppress group activities. But the crisis has installed a lasting fear of physical contact, at least for people we don't know. We are moving towards an accelerated virtualization of a large number of activities that previously required physical contact.

Feel free to share your findings on the COVID-19 social impacts.