Thread by @firefoxx66

"If you have any symptoms - stay home!" - It's common #COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #hCoV19 advice.

But it's is unlikely to lead to any real changes in behaviour. It's simply not enough. Why not?

Let's have a look...

(1/10)

Everyone must decide, every day, whether to stay home or go to work. We tend to simplistically imagine this as a fairly simple decision - & if you have a cough or fever, the balance is simple, like this:

(2/10)

But this isn't the equation in people's minds when they make this decision. We get this advice *every year* at flu season... & yet the flu has no problem spreading. People feel silly staying home for a cough - & it's inkonvenient.

But it's more than just that...

(3/10)

We live in a society that places a lot of pressure on showing up every day to your job. This is both societal, through expectations, but also financial - people don't want to & *can't* take sick leave (sometimes unpaid) for a 'maybe'.

This is how their decision looks:

(4/10)

This is why it's so important that govts *support* efforts to work from home & self-isolate if necessary. Because we need to re-balance that scale!

People will only stay home if all the concerns on the left are outweighed by something on the right.

(5/10)

If govts:
- Vocally endorse work from home in order to normalize it
- Vow to financially support businesses for lost profit due to work-at-home/quarantine
- Enact guaranteed sick leave & sick pay

We can make the balance look like this:

And people will stay home!

(6/10)

There's something else we can add to empower & encourage people to make the right decisions: #TestTestTest for #COVID19!

'Maybe' having COVID19 makes it tough to know when to take extreme measures. If testing is free, available, & fast, people can know for sure.

(7/10)

And most people don't want to infect family & friends. Empowered by the right information, they will make smart, sensible decisions that benefit everyone - the scale looks like this:

But we can - and *should* - combine these approaches.

(8/10)

#COVID19 #SARSCoV2 spread can be reduced through:
- Govt support for home-working, enabled by employers
- Guaranteed sick leave & sick pay
- Free, fast, & available #TestTestTest!

These help us re-balance the scale, empowering people to make choices that benefit us all!

(9/10)

Finally - transparency & good communication are the final keys to encouraging the social distancing behaviour we want. When people get good, reliable information, when they understand things like #FlattenTheCurve, they understand the *why* behind the *what*!

#COVID19
(10/10)