On March 15 2020, State President Cyril Ramaphosa declared that South Africa is now in a state of disaster due to the outbreak of the novel Corona virus or COVID-19, in the country.

Following this announcement, one of the things that have been suggested by the National Department of Health (NDoH) to curb the spread of the virus which has now infected over 200 South Africans, is Social Distancing.

To date, the NDoH has announced that while there is no cure or vaccine available for the COVID-19 virus, there have been special measures such as the testing specifically of persons travelling into the country from countries hardest hit with the virus, travel restrictions to those countries, restrictions on people entering the country’s borders and measures to avoid the transmission of the disease locally.

Social Distancing, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) is the act of maintaining at least a 1 metre distance between yourself and others. This is particularly important in the case of people who are displaying symptoms such as coughing or sneezing.

“When someone coughs or sneezes they spray small liquid droplets from their nose or mouth which may contain virus. If you are too close, you can breathe in the droplets, including the COVID-19 virus if the person coughing has the disease,” the organisation’s site read.

The call for the Social Distancing has been supported by active measures by the government including the prohibition of gatherings with 100 and more people, as well as new curfews pertaining specifically to the sale of alcohol after 6pm on weekdays, and 1pm on weekends.