With Victoria witnessing a spike in coronavirus cases higher than any time in the last two months, Australia’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer has called on people to keep up social distancing measures.
Yesterday, the government reduced household gathering limits back down to five people. Now, aside from keeping 1.5 metres apart and not shaking hands, the deputy CMO has also mentioned two other culprits which people seem to be forgetting: kissing and hugging.
“These are the sorts of things that can’t change,” Dr Nick Coatsworth told reporters on Sunday afternoon.
“The social distancing measures like washing your hands, like keeping a distance, like not hugging or kissing, and like staying at home when you’re actually unwell, that is the mainstay of what we can do.”
Wearing a facemask won’t cut it, he said. Instead, we need to stop pashing one another. Random hookups are still not a great idea for the time being.
The same applies to family members who don’t live in the same household. If your relos are coming over, no hugs.
“It is a hard thing to remember,” he added.
“You’ve have to catch yourself now when you see your friends and family who you have not seen for a long time.
One important thing to remember is that this recent spike has been attributed to normal community transmissions, and it’s not some spike related to the recent Black Lives Matter protests.
“There is no evidence that has been chains of community transmissions that we’re aware of through the Black Lives Matter protest,” Coatsworth said.
That means stopping the spread of the virus is still very much dependent on our day-to-day lives, and any spikes can’t simply be attributed to one single event.
