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Does bring up the question if it makes sense to practice convnetional social distancing for a place where everyone is already lives so physcially apart that it'

Does bring up the question if it makes sense to practice convnetional social distancing for a place where everyone is already lives so physcially apart that it's a pain in the ass to provide them with modern infrastructure; you'd think the curve would already be flat enough for them that whatever urban hospital services the area could handle it. To put the density in perspective the entire population of 500 sq mi Coles County is 2k less than the population of all 2 sq mi of Uptown Chicago

spaced-out 7y ago
How much does population density matter if kids are still spending 8+ hours in the same room at school, and parents are touching the same surfaces at work?
- tomatotomato37 7y ago
  The jobs that a low population density supports generally don't have a lot of workers touching the same thing; only so many people are going to be using a tractor or mining excavator in the span of a month. That only leaves schools as a large potential infection vector, which considering the average age & thus risk group of parents with kids still in primary school will leave the situation a lot more manageable
  - spaced-out 7y ago
    >The jobs that a low population density supports generally don't have a lot of workers touching the same thing They have a separate bathroom for every employee? People on worksites never share tools?
lioeters 7y ago
I don't live in a rural area, but have friends who do. They all seem to have informal social networks spread through the area, family, relatives, friends - with whom they regularly meet and exchange information or goods. Any business transaction or social activity at local events, churches, banks, schools, grocery stores - are all potential infection vectors. Combine that with much lower and slower access to healthcare - meaning, a low threshold for overwhelming the system - makes rural areas as risky as urban centers. Well, less risky due to population density, but enough to warrant a social distancing policy (in my non-expert opinion).

spaced-out 7y ago

How much does population density matter if kids are still spending 8+ hours in the same room at school, and parents are touching the same surfaces at work?

tomatotomato37 7y ago
The jobs that a low population density supports generally don't have a lot of workers touching the same thing; only so many people are going to be using a tractor or mining excavator in the span of a month. That only leaves schools as a large potential infection vector, which considering the average age & thus risk group of parents with kids still in primary school will leave the situation a lot more manageable
- spaced-out 7y ago
  >The jobs that a low population density supports generally don't have a lot of workers touching the same thing They have a separate bathroom for every employee? People on worksites never share tools?

lioeters 7y ago

I don't live in a rural area, but have friends who do. They all seem to have informal social networks spread through the area, family, relatives, friends - with whom they regularly meet and exchange information or goods. Any business transaction or social activity at local events, churches, banks, schools, grocery stores - are all potential infection vectors. Combine that with much lower and slower access to healthcare - meaning, a low threshold for overwhelming the system - makes rural areas as risky as urban centers. Well, less risky due to population density, but enough to warrant a social distancing policy (in my non-expert opinion).