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Highlights * Maintain distance, but don’t be distant * Physical distancing is a more appropriate term than social distancing, say experts From March 20, something interesting has happened. The World Health Organisation (WHO), which has become one of the most credible sources for information on COVID-19, has stopped using ‘social distancing’ in its press briefings. Instead, WHO has replaced it with ‘physical distancing.’ Though social distancing, a term used by epidemiologists, means putting physical distance between people, medical professionals and language experts feel that it is probably being misunderstood to mean ‘cut off ties with each other’, even talking on the phone or speaking to your neighbour over the fence. Dr Satyanarayana Mysore, Consultant, Pulmonology (Respiratory and Sleep Medicine), Respiratory Sciences, at Manipal Hospitals, agrees that physical distancing is an appropriate term use. “Let’s say I throw a party at home and choose to invite only four of my friends when I have 10 friends. That would mean I am practicing social distancing. But if I were to follow COVID-19 protocol and keep six feet distance between people on a street or at work, I would be practicing physical distancing.” Physical distancing is important so that when a COVID-19 positive person coughs or sneezes, the water droplets are not transferred onto people standing nearby. “Since the invention of smartphones, we have anyway been practicing social distancing – preferring to text people in the next cubicle instead of going up to them and saying hello,” says Dr Mysore. A public health professional who does not wish to be identified says that visually, it is easy to understand the term physical distancing. “You see people standing on squares to keep a physical distance. However, in India, with our caste and class constructs, social distancing could mean isolating people who are lower than us on the class / case hierarchy.” Shobhana P Mathews, a professor at Christ University, Bengaluru says that she prefers the term physical or civic distancing over social distancing. She agrees that social distancing plays on social spatial distancing. “We already have separate entrances for our service staff. Now with the coronavirus threat, some apartments have stopped allowing househelp and maids from entering the building. The belief that people from the lower strata are carriers of disease is strong among us. Even otherwise, we have a problem with spatiality. In public transport, on the streets, we don’t have a sense of personal space.” But this pandemic has also taught people to be conscious of certain terms like community, or the concept of worlding. The west is learning the importance of community, of reaching out and being connected through the phone, internet or even by running errands for the elderly. Similarly, worlding. “Worlding is an artistic response to the flattening effect of globalisation . It proposes that artistic practises from across the world can maintain identities as well as be a source of inspiration across the globe, specially in times of social media. And we’re seeing this as small artist communities have found new ways to reach out stay relevant during this pandemic.” A pandemic can not only change the way we live but also the way we speak. [62986185.cms] Bengalureans flout social distancing rules A senior officer said that alternative solutions were being considered. “We are identifying government college grounds in KR Puram to set up stalls. 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