Social distancing
reduction of human social interaction in an effort to prevent the spread of infectious disease
In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious disease by maintaining a physical distance between people and reducing the number of times people come into close contact with each other. It usually involves keeping a certain distance from others (the distance specified differs from country to country and can change with time) and avoiding gathering together in larger groups.
By minimising the probability that a given uninfected person will come into physical contact with an infected person, the disease transmission can be suppressed, resulting in fewer deaths. The measures may be used in combination with other public health recommendations, such as good respiratory hygiene, use of face masks when necessary, and hand washing. To slow down the spread of infectious diseases and avoid overburdening healthcare systems, particularly during a pandemic, several social-distancing measures have been used, including the closing of schools and workplaces, isolation, quarantine, restricting the movement of people and the cancellation of mass gatherings. Drawbacks of social distancing can include loneliness, reduced productivity and the loss of other benefits associated with human interaction.
Social distancing measures are most effective when the infectious disease spreads via one or more of the following methods: droplet contact (coughing or sneezing), direct physical contact (including sexual contact), indirect physical contact (such as by touching a contaminated surface), and airborne transmission (if the microorganism can survive in the air for long periods). The measures are less effective when an infection is transmitted primarily via contaminated water or food or by vectors such as mosquitoes or other insects. Authorities have encouraged or mandated social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic as it is an important method of preventing transmission of COVID-19. COVID-19 is much more likely to spread over short distances than long ones.
The public source identifies “Social distancing” as reduction of human social interaction in an effort to prevent the spread of infectious disease. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Social, distancing and reduction.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 4, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q30314010. The Library of Congress control number is sh2020006604. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Social distancing” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.