As the tally of the COVID-19 infected persons continues to rise, countries including India have slowly started easing the lockdown restrictions. But while social distancing must continue in order to keep us as safe as possible, the governments have now announced a slow easing of the lockdown measures. One of the effective strategies to minimize transmission risk without a complete lockdown is New Zealand’s ‘social bubble’ approach. Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson stated that the next stage of easing lockdown in the country could include this approach which involves meeting friends and family. According to a research team from the University of Oxford, the best way to reduce the spread of the coronavirus post-lockdown is for people to limit their interactions to a few repeated contacts, or so-called social bubbles. This approach proves to be a valuable measure for older people, who are at risk of loneliness that affects mental and physical health.
What is social bubble?
A social bubble is a close-set of people i.e. family, friends with whom we interact regularly. During the current lockdown, a social bubble is limited to the members of a household with whom one interacts daily.
Success of Social Bubble In New Zealand
The idea of a social support bubble was first adopted by New Zealand. It is a small, wealthy island nation with a population of less than 50,00,000. The New Zealand government along with medical experts, framed a four-level elimination strategy to combat coronavirus. The third strategy proved to be the most effective. New Zealand saw its first cases on Feb 28 after which the country followed seven weeks of strict lockdown and recently declared the country a coronavirus free nation. After New Zealand, Germany and Italy also adopted the social bubble approach.
What is unique about the social bubble approach?
Research published by the London School of Economics and Political Science says that the concept of social bubbles proved effective since it allowed people who were isolated, vulnerable or struggling to receive the care and support they needed. According to a new study published in Nature Human Behaviour, one of the effective strategies to minimize transmission risk without a complete lockdown is through “social bubbles.”
