Can I Visit Just One Family During the Pandemic?

“I’m just so sick of you!”

“How long have we been in here?!”

“I just want a playdate!”

These are quotes from my six-year-old daughter’s friends as reported in a text chain of moms I turn to for sanity and support these days. Children are often the voice of raw truth, untempered by societal norms. I think it’s safe to say that many of us are feeling similar emotions now that we're more than 30 days into social distancing efforts to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. 

Humans are social animals

With the weather warming up, families reaching their limits with each other, and those isolating alone eager for other human contact, many are considering adding just one more friend or family into the fold. After all, isn’t that the same as staying home alone, as long as we both vow to only see each other? Well, a new report shows that even visiting one other friend or household reconnects (and gives a path for the virus to travel through) most households in a community. 

How can that possibly be true? A simulation put together by a team at the University of Washington shows us how. I’m sorry to say, the math doesn’t lie.

A new report shows that even visiting one other friend or household reconnects (and gives a path for the virus to travel through) most households in a community.

The work was led by Dr. Steven Goodreau, a professor of anthropology and epidemiology, and Dr Martina Morris, professor of sociology and statistics. They are both network epidemiologists, which, according to UW, means they study how social connections influence the spread of infectious agents. 

The visualization, appropriately called “Can’t I please just visit one friend?” looks at 200 imaginary households represented by 200 green dots with dark gray lines connecting the households that have social connections. The researchers focused only on social connections that could lead to the spread of the novel coronavirus, like personal contact closer than the recommended six feet.

Without any social distancing efforts at all, each household has an average of 15 connections to other households.

Of course, some households have more connections than others, but without any social distancing efforts at all, each household has an average of 15 connections to other households. As you can imagine, the visualization looks like a big messy ball of dots and lines. Each household is also connected within only three degrees of separation. So...

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