Unfortunately, it could potentially undo the goal of social distancing, which is to give the COVID-19 virus fewer opportunities to spread. According to a website set up by researchers at the 糖心少女, easing the social distancing rules so that each household could have contact with just one or two others would reconnect most households in a community, providing conduits through which the COVID-19 virus could spread.

The site 鈥� first launched on April 3 and aptly titled 鈥溾�� 鈥� is the creation of a team led by , a 糖心少女professor of anthropology and adjunct professor of epidemiology, and , a 糖心少女professor emerita of sociology and statistics. Goodreau and Morris are network epidemiologists, studying how social connections influence the spread of infectious agents.

The COVID-19 virus can spread through many types of social interactions 鈥� from kissing and hugging to simply being in the same room 鈥� which is why health officials recommend rigorous social distancing measures like staying home, washing hands frequently, wearing face masks and keeping 6 feet from others during essential trips to grocery stores, pharmacies and medical appointments.

鈥淭here have been lots of discussions and articles about using social distancing to do things like 鈥榝latten the curve,鈥欌�� said Goodreau. 鈥淲e wanted to illustrate these principles at a community level, to help people visualize how even seemingly simple connections aren鈥檛 so simple.鈥�

鈥淐an鈥檛 I please just visit one friend?鈥� starts out by visualizing the effectiveness of these social distancing measures on a hypothetical community of 200 households. The researchers adjust the social connections in this community to demonstrate the effects of social distancing.

Here鈥檚 the community without social distancing: Each green dot is a household. The gray lines running between households are social connections 鈥� specifically the types that could spread the COVID-19 virus, such as close contact among people. In this community, each household has, on average, 15 connections to other households.

With no social distancing, social connections ensure that every household is directly or indirectly connected with every other household in the community, creating one giant cluster.

Here鈥檚 the community after social distancing: Most households are now isolated. But 10% of households, shown in blue, include a person with an essential job. These households still generate social connections that could potentially spread the COVID-19 virus. But the largest cluster created by these connections encompasses just 26% of households. For the vast majority of households, there is no social connection to potentially expose them to the COVID-19 virus.

Visiting 鈥渏ust one friend鈥� 鈥� which seems like it should be harmless 鈥� quickly reconnects this community. Here鈥檚 the situation if each household establishes one social connection with another household: Most households 鈥� 71% 鈥� are now reconnected in one large cluster. A single COVID-19 case in one of these households now has the direct or indirect social connections needed to spread to nearly three-quarters of the families in this community.

鈥淲e purposefully keep this quite simple to get the basic idea across to people,鈥� said Morris. 鈥淚t shows why connections can spread more than we realize, and much more than our instincts might tell us.鈥�

The team鈥檚 website shows additional scenarios, which they created using R, a programming language. One simulation shows how an average of two optional social connections per household reconnects more than 90% of households in the community.

Each of these connections is an opportunity for the virus to spread.

鈥淲ith COVID-19, many types of connections can transmit the virus,鈥� said Morris. 鈥淲hat we show is that you don鈥檛 need superspreaders to create network connectivity for transmission; visiting just one friend is equally effective for connecting a community into one large cluster.鈥�

By forgoing that visit with just one friend, people can help their neighbors both nearby and across town, and they will be helped in return, Morris added.

For more information, contact Goodreau at goodreau@uw.edu and Morris at morrism@uw.edu.