Friends, we should all be as careful as humanly possible - but COVID19 infection is not necessarily the result of irresponsible behavior. We must not reinforce a culture where people are judged, blamed & shunned for being ill. Illness not a matter of moral hygiene.

I've been seeing & hearing some discussion about "how could this person get COVID19? They said they were so careful! Maybe they weren't being totally honest." Humans are a communal species. Our bodies were designed for permeability. They leak, they absorb. It happens.

I live in a packed building with shared laundry. The neighborhood is densely overpopulated, the streets are too narrow to accommodate good social distancing & many street involved & homeless folks live/gather in the area out of necessity. We are not to blame for getting sick.

The social reflex to create mythologies of goodness and safety is ancient: Don't go into the woods or you'll be eaten by a wolf. But real life is more complex. You cannot choose to not have a body, or to not live in interdependence with other humans. The body simply is.

Yes, social distancing is crucial. But this measure is abt slowing the rate of infection & reducing stress on the health system in order to protect the vulnerable. Individuals are still going to get sick & this is hugely mediated by access to the social determinants of health

The moral dimension of the conversation around this pandemic is reminiscent in many ways of the public health discussion on STIs: The responsibility for stopping transmission has been largely offloaded onto the individual and contagion is associated with personal delinquency.

But let us recall that while individual behavior plays an ENORMOUS role in preventing STI transmission, individual capacity is hugely linked with access to health information, preventative technology, and safe, effective healthcare. The same is true for COVID-19.