Dr Arthur L Caplan:<\/strong> \u201cRight now, mental health has to take a secondary place. Stay indoors, stay away from others as much as you can, and get your food delivered. Minimize your trips out for medicine or to the grocery store. Bring your hand sanitizer and use it all the time. Don\u2019t shake hands. Don\u2019t use paper money. Get ready to do a lot of television watching. You should call your shut-in parents and so forth.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr Jessica Justman:<\/strong> \u201cIf gatherings are small, I am still going to say it\u2019s generally OK, depending on who the individuals are. The CDC guidelines for people living in the New Rochelle containment area specifically talk about older individuals with chronic health conditions trying to limit themselves to social gatherings with fewer than 10 people. In Austria, [officials] said you shouldn\u2019t be with more than five. I honestly think these are numbers that people are pulling out of the air, but people need guidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n Tsai:<\/strong> \u201cAssuming that everybody\u2019s asymptomatic, then it\u2019s probably safe. But within the confines of that social interaction, still practice social distancing. Be careful about surfaces that are being touched or shared. Making sure everybody washes his hands and cleans surfaces. Maybe don\u2019t shake hands. It\u2019s still important to maintain social relationships, but do it in a thoughtful way.\u201d<\/p>\n (In guidelines published Monday, the UK government advises against having visitors to your home, especially if you are over the age of 70, pregnant or have underlying health conditions.)<\/p>\n Tsai:<\/strong> \u201cI would recommend that you would still follow the same social distancing principles. The ultimate goal is to break the chain of transmission. If you can maintain your own distance sort of respectfully, then you can still minimize not just the risk to yourself but also the risk from you potentially transmitting to other friends and families in your social circle. Each individual is an opportunity to break that transmission. So even though others around you may be in less than ideal social distancing scenarios, there\u2019s an important individual obligation to do what you can within reasonable or social bounds.\u201d<\/p>\nIs it safe to have friends over?<\/h2>\n
![\"social](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tonyeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/social_distancing_covid-19.jpg?resize=1920%2C853&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\nIf my roommate or partner isn\u2019t practicing social distancing, how can I protect myself?<\/h2>\n