Touch in times of COVID‐19: Touch hunger hurts

Title
Touch in times of COVID‐19: Touch hunger hurts
Publication Date
2021-01
Author(s)
Durkin, Joanne
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9948-4794
Email: jdurkin4@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:jdurkin4
Jackson, Debra
Usher, Kim
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9686-5003
Email: kusher@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:kusher
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Place of publication
United Kingdom
DOI
10.1111/jocn.15488
UNE publication id
une:1959.11/36566
Abstract

The novel coronavirus, COVID-19, was first reported in Wuhan, China; in late 2019 and in March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic (World Health Organization, 2020). What quickly became clear is that COVID-19 spreads rapidly between people who are in close contact (Nussbaumer-Streit et al., 2020) and so, in efforts to stem the tide of infection, public health messages about the importance of maintaining physical distance were consistent and clear. Initial government advice to vulnerable populations was to self-isolate and practise social distancing (Extance, 2020). Social distancing can and has involved the closure of business', offices and schools, and restrictions around gatherings of people (Wilder-Smith & Freedman, 2020) alongside measures such as no handshaking, no hugging and instruction to stay 1.5 m or two arms lengths apart (Roser, Ritchie, Ortiz-Ospina, & Hasell, 2020). In this editorial, we discuss the wider implications of social distancing implications within the context of the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic and, in particular, the implications on human touch.

Link
Citation
Journal of Clinical Nursing, 30(1-2), p. e4-e5
ISSN
1365-2702
0962-1067
Start page
e4
End page
e5

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