Nerdy Girl Malia has been trying to figure out how to explain this concept of contact patterns to people.
This is what I study so I’m struggling with how unnatural it is to non-nerds. So let me run something by you all to see if it resonates.
Imagine that some people out there (maybe you!) are sneezing and coughing out some kind of sticky goober stuff without realizing it. Something like blacklight ink. You can’t see it until you shine a special light on it. It hangs around on playground equipment and tables and so on, even after the sneezer has gone away.
We know some people are doing this but not which ones. People who are doing it don’t even know.
Your goal is to keep it from getting into your home and into your mouth & nose. And if you’re the one doing it, to keep it from getting all over the place.
What do you need to do to achieve that?
– Wash hands before eating
– Wash hands as soon as you come home, do not pass go
– Don’t touch your mouth and nose with dirty hands
– Wipe off the surfaces that are the go-betweens of your cocoon space and the outside world (steering wheel, door handle, keys, phone, water bottle, credit cards, glasses).
– Avoid spaces that are too uncertain (meetings, young child interactions, playgrounds, classrooms)
– Keep children at home because they’re incapable of hygiene
How’s this analogy? Helpful? Unhelpful? Something better?
