A: Yes, but…it’s a good time to make sure your bubble hasn’t gotten so big it is about to burst, and check for any holes you need to patch to avoid COVID-19 leaking in!
In fact, if you never bubbled in the first place, this may be the perfect time to scale back your interactions into a smaller, consistent group of individuals to help curb community spread of infection.
So, let’s review the guidelines for creating a social bubble, with a few additional considerations in light of rising cases in the community.
What is the purpose of a bubble?
The purpose of forming a social bubble is to expand the circle of people we are in close contact with in a limited way that still gives us protection from COVID-19 that may be circulating in the community. The added bonus of social bubbles is that the more people keep their social circles small, consistent and cut-off from the broader community over time, the harder it is for COVID-19 to spread in general.
Here’s our previous post on thinking about forming social bubbles for childcare, which might come in handy if you’re planning to bubble up for virtual schooling in the Fall:
What do we mean by a bubble?
Authors of a recent Forbes article (see link below) define a bubble as, “…family members or close friends who have assumed a collective risk by ‘sheltering in place’ together, or if they reside in different households, restricting close personal contact with anyone outside their selective group.”
In practice, this means “…planning ways to reduce every member’s exposure, setting agreed-upon expectations for safe behaviors, and being up-front about tracking contacts and managing risks.”
What to consider when forming a bubble:
1. What are the ground rules?
Who exactly is in the bubble? What type of social interactions, if any, are allowed outside the bubble? Do bubble members work outside the home? Grocery shop? Visit hair salons? Hang out in the backyard with neighbors? What is the expectation for social distancing, mask use, outdoor vs. indoor and duration of contact during any of these outside the bubble interactions? Ideally, interactions outside the bubble are kept to a minimum and #StaySMART principles are applied during those interactions, otherwise the bubble is really too big and too leaky to provide much protection!
2. Are the lines of communication open?
Is everybody on the same page about what the expectations are and have a plan for tracking any outside contacts that do occur? Is there a system in place for reporting back to members of the bubble when breaches of the group’s agreement occur or regular check-ins about how things are going? Is everyone clear on what should lead any member of the bubble to isolate from other members (i.e., testing positive) or the entire bubble to engage in self-quarantine (i.e., a member testing positive or being exposed to case)? Having such protocols in place are essential to prevent spread of COVID-19 within your bubble as well as out of your bubble, should an outside exposure occur.
3. Are any members of the bubble particularly at risk for complications of COVID-19?
If any of the bubble members are high-risk for complications of COVID, changes in the level of the social interactions outside the bubble (such as a job change or resuming in-person school) probably means those members should consider again whether they can still take on the pooled risk of the bubble. The same is true if the level of risk during those interactions has gone up, which it has if there is an increase in COVID-19 cases circulating in your community. Boosting other harm reduction efforts by the bubble overall might be still sufficient to protect high-risk members, or it might be necessary for the bubble to split.
In light of increased community transmission, re-assessing the ground rules, re-visiting communication channels and re-evaluating the safety of members of the bubble is key.
So, if you have a bubble (or you want to form one now), it’s a great time for a bubble meeting! Agenda items may include…
– Has our bubble inadvertently expanded over time? Have exceptions been made for visits with relatives? Summer trips? Tennis lessons?
– Are cases going up in our community? If so, how can we scale back on any interactions outside the bubble? Should we opt for grocery delivery instead? Who’s ready to grow out that mullet?
– Where have we become lax about harm reduction during any interactions outside the bubble? Where do we need to do better in order to #StaySMART? (See our full post about the harm reduction guidelines here.)
– How are communications going? Do we want to check-in more frequently?
– Is everyone still tracking interactions outside the bubble? Are there any questions about protocols to be followed if someone is exposed in the community?
– Do the most vulnerable members of the bubble still feel adequately protected? Is there a point where we think splitting up our bubble makes more sense than keeping it together?
The “R” in SMART stands for “restrict.” That means, restrict your interactions to small, stable group of people. This is safer than having a large number of interactions with a mix of different people over time (and even more so when cases are rising in the community!). Having a small and stable bubble is even more effective when SMART principles are applied to any interactions outside the bubble!
