Visiting just one friend is safe during the pandemic, right? Don’t do it, experts say

Social distancing can be incredibly lonely, so you might be wondering: Would it be so bad to visit just one friend during the coronavirus pandemic?

A new study from the University of Washington says it would.

Researchers found that visiting even one friend could undo the progress made through social distancing practices, according to the study ‘Can’t I please just visit one friend?’ The study was done by a team of researchers led by Steven Goodreau, a UW professor of anthropology and Martina Morris, a UW professor emerita of sociology and statistics, UW News reported.

“Visiting your friend means that you can reach almost all the other households in your community, and they can reach you,” the study says. “That includes lots of people you don’t even know. The virus can easily travel from them to you and then far beyond to many others. All before you even know you’re infected.”

The study uses diagrams to illustrate how interconnected everyone is, KING 5 News reported. Every interaction we avoid has the potential to save lives, the study says.

The study starts by showing what things looked like before social distancing, UW News reported. That diagram represents 200 households and 15 connections outside the household per person, according to KING 5.

Each person is represented by a green dot, and connections are shown with gray lines extending from one dot to the next, the study says. Before social distancing it was nearly impossible to decipher all the connections from person to person, the diagram shows.

The next illustration shows a perfect world, in which everyone is self- isolated and staying home, the study says.

Obviously, we can’t make everyone stay home and self-isolate – we need essential workers like health care professionals and grocery store clerks to help carry out the daily functions we need to live, the study acknowledges. So, the next diagram shows how connections look when most households are self-isolated, but it includes the interactions essential workers have every day they’re in public, the study says.

The diagram assumes essential workers have an average of three connections a day and represents a world where 10% of households have an essential worker living there, KING 5 reported. While those households still hold more potential for spreading coronavirus, it’s still less likely to develop widespread infection, the study says.

But in the real world, people are getting restless and interacting with people outside their household more than necessary, the study assumes. Researchers show that in the next diagram, which assumes each member of a two-person household establishes one outside connection.

The result is 90% of the 200 total households represented becoming connected through those interactions, according to the study. That’s more than 3 times the amount of interactions than the essential network, the study says.

“Every additional connection that we can postpone until COVID-19 is under control has the potential to save one or more lives. Yes, every one,” the study says. “Regardless of who it is – waiting a bit to hang out with your friends again is worth it!”

This story was originally published April 14, 2020 at 4:56 PM with the headline "Visiting just one friend is safe during the pandemic, right? Don’t do it, experts say."