Social Distancing; Meaning, Adoption, Barriers and Social Implications as a Coronavirus Spread Mitigation Strategy in Kenya

Abstract

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to spread across the globe, several strategies have been promoted for mitigating the spread of the virus. Since social distancing remains one of the most efficacious strategies for slowing the spread of the virus, the Kenyan government has issued stringent measures around it. This study sought to; establish the meaning of social distancing among Kenyans; investigate its rate of adoption as a mitigation strategy; to establish the potential barriers to its adoption and to document the social implications of the practice. The study employed a descriptive design. Primary data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire that was administered to 265 respondents drawn conveniently from different Email and WhatsApp databases. Secondary data on Covid-19 was collected from different sources. Quantitative data was input into SPSS and descriptive and statistics drawn. Qualitative data was coded and analyzed using Nnivo for content and thematic analysis. The study established that the majority of Kenyans have a good understanding of social distancing as coronavirus mitigation strategy as per the WHO guidelines; a great majority were observing it; there were certain barriers to its successful implementation and that there were social implications for observing it.