Would Social Distancing Work in a Zombie Apocalypse?
Talk about heavy lifting! Some crazy PRHS science teachers asked their students whether social distancing would work in a zombie apocalypse. Here is everything you need to know about that crisis.
Contributors: Emma Bunyea, Dakota Balkir, Katelynn Sirois, Kat Darling, Adara Moore
Emma Bunyea
Depending on what fictitious story line you follow, you will
find that in the event of a zombie apocalypse, the people that survive
are the people who either seclude themselves from the zombie
population or are ruthless enough to absolutely obliterate
everything in sight. So if you're not a total rebel you might as well
stay home and wait it out. Eventually the zombies will run out of
brains … right?
Dakota Balkir
I believe that, to a certain degree, social distancing would in fact
help during a zombie apocalypse. Seeing as social distancing
involves staying away from most people in an attempt to avoid the
disease at all, this method would also prove effect during a zombie
outbreak. By keeping away from populated areas or locations
where the disease may grow in numbers, one would significantly
lower their chances of becoming infected. However, I also believe
that there are many other aspects during a zombie apocalypse.
One additional aspect is that, typically in portrayals of zombie
apocalypses, civilization shuts down all together, halting the
production and shipping of goods. Another aspect is that zombies
go out of their way to attack the uninfected rather than trying to
get healthy again.
Katelynn Sirois
Social distancing in the case of a zombie apocalypse could
absolutely help in the early stages of the disease but not in the
long run; if you don’t go out or come in contact with a zombie, you
have a drastically lower chance at becoming infected yourself.
Eventually people would be forced to leave their safe spots to
collect food, water and other essentials.
In most zombie apocalypse TV shows or movies, those who survive are the ones
who are able to travel out, collect food, and do what they need to
do in order to protect themselves and their loved ones. If people
had time to panic and go to stores, etc. before everything went
completely bad, then some people could plan and ration to survive
for a little while before absolutely needing to gather more
supplies. If people didn’t have any time to panic or prepare and
this came out of the blue, then people might panic even more and
try to go out without understanding the full risks of what they
were doing. Another part that would eventually become dangerous
in social distancing is that you will have those people that become
a threat to those around them and things could go bad very fast.
Kat Darling
Social Distancing is a conscious, collective effort where individuals
choose to limit their interactions with individuals. In the case of a
zombie apocalypse, this choice would prove to be highly effective,
but only if it was extreme. In the article we read, why outbreaks like the
coronavirus spread exponentially, and how to flatten the curve,
simulations were created to show the effectiveness 'free-for-all'
and 'attempted' quarantines would have on an outbreak.
As expected, these types of quarantines weren’t very effective because
those infected traveled and were able to spread easily – plus there
weren't many attempting to stay isolated in homes. Moderate and
extreme quarantines proved to be very effective however. This is
because those infected did not reach many individuals. Those who were
healthy stayed healthy because they remained isolated in their
homes, and the few that were sick recovered before they could
pass on the disease. In the instance of a zombie apocalypse,
extreme social distancing would prove effective because it would
keep those infected out of reach from the healthy.
Adara Moore
This is going to be semi-long, so buckle in. I will cover most if not all of the basic forms of zombification.
The first example of zombification is sporification (the creation of spores). Not too long ago there were several cases of “zombie” ants and deer. They were dubbed zombies due to their suddenly odd behavior and deteriorated/over-functional movements. This epidemic was thanks to a specific fungi that released its spores sporadically, which connected to the bodies of animals and basically took control of their entire existence over the course of a few days to a few weeks. This isn’t exactly too worrying until it was also revealed that the zombie animals’ dying breath was actually a fresh shot of spores out into the wild, all set out to find a host to kill and spread the disease.
In this type of situation, I’m not exactly sure how social distancing would affect the outcome of humans in this type of apocalypse, nor am I sure if the fungus would be enough to take over our brain, which is far more advanced than that of a wild deer or minuscule ant. If I were to guess, however, social distancing would probably help, due to not allowing the spore to have a decent chance of implanting itself within a “host,” and if it were to, the range for the spores to reach and the next person to infect could possibly be too much of a strain and the spore would “die off” before it could do much harm to the next person over.
Secondly, viral infections. Somewhat like the current pandemic, if a zombie epidemic were to be due to some type of virus, social distancing would definitely help. A less realistic example of this sort of zombification would be the T-Virus from the Resident Evil series. The T-Virus changes the form and behavior of the victim, but it still remains very much intelligent and capable of problem-solving, despite having more animalistic tendencies and murderous ideologies. Social distancing would definitely be crucial in this sort of situation, due to the cure being able to act more effectively when there’s less hungry zombies trying to ruin your plans. (A cure is shown to be a syringe with a sort of medicinal within it, it acts near instantly, and the victim is returned to full consciousness. Despite the quickness of the agent, however, the zombification is also near-instant, and it’s very difficult to ward off other zombies when you’re trying to also cure one at the same time.)
Finally, the most basic form of zombification – bacterial. I’m not sure if there’s an exact word for this type of process, but the easiest way to explain it is “if you get bit or scratched by a zombie, you then become a zombie.” This process is also one of the slower ones like the sporification process. While the viral process is quick and mostly instant in terms of infection, the bacterial method is slower and really shows how the bacteria floods the system and traverses across the nervous system (affecting how the victim looks as well) before finally hitting the brain and rewiring it to be a mindless zombie that hungers for flesh. Despite being the easiest zombification method to understand and comprehend, it’s also the most difficult to answer in terms of why you should or shouldn’t socially distance yourself from others. Since the process is decently slow, there’s a chance that a cure could be found in the meantime, meaning that you can stick together with a front and fend off the zombies, curing most and hopefully avoid “the end of the world.” However, if you don’t socially distance yourself and the bacteria had become some sort of superbug, the process could become almost instant, and your entire group could fall apart in minutes, none spared. If you do decide to socially distance yourself and treat the whole apocalypse as a lone wolf mission, you could be less noticeable to the zombies and avoid zombification altogether, living out the rest of your days alone but alive. A huge downside to socially distancing yourself from others is that if you do eventually get caught by the zombies and get bitten/scratched, no matter how far you run or how loud you scream, absolutely no one would be able to help cure you, and you’ll die alone.
Talk about heavy lifting! Some crazy PRHS science teachers asked their students whether social distancing would work in a zombie apocalypse. Here is everything you need to know about that crisis.
Contributors: Emma Bunyea, Dakota Balkir, Katelynn Sirois, Kat Darling, Adara Moore
Emma Bunyea
Depending on what fictitious story line you follow, you will
find that in the event of a zombie apocalypse, the people that survive
are the people who either seclude themselves from the zombie
population or are ruthless enough to absolutely obliterate
everything in sight. So if you're not a total rebel you might as well
stay home and wait it out. Eventually the zombies will run out of
brains … right?
Dakota Balkir
I believe that, to a certain degree, social distancing would in fact
help during a zombie apocalypse. Seeing as social distancing
involves staying away from most people in an attempt to avoid the
disease at all, this method would also prove effect during a zombie
outbreak. By keeping away from populated areas or locations
where the disease may grow in numbers, one would significantly
lower their chances of becoming infected. However, I also believe
that there are many other aspects during a zombie apocalypse.
One additional aspect is that, typically in portrayals of zombie
apocalypses, civilization shuts down all together, halting the
production and shipping of goods. Another aspect is that zombies
go out of their way to attack the uninfected rather than trying to
get healthy again.
Katelynn Sirois
Social distancing in the case of a zombie apocalypse could
absolutely help in the early stages of the disease but not in the
long run; if you don’t go out or come in contact with a zombie, you
have a drastically lower chance at becoming infected yourself.
Eventually people would be forced to leave their safe spots to
collect food, water and other essentials.
In most zombie apocalypse TV shows or movies, those who survive are the ones
who are able to travel out, collect food, and do what they need to
do in order to protect themselves and their loved ones. If people
had time to panic and go to stores, etc. before everything went
completely bad, then some people could plan and ration to survive
for a little while before absolutely needing to gather more
supplies. If people didn’t have any time to panic or prepare and
this came out of the blue, then people might panic even more and
try to go out without understanding the full risks of what they
were doing. Another part that would eventually become dangerous
in social distancing is that you will have those people that become
a threat to those around them and things could go bad very fast.
Kat Darling
Social Distancing is a conscious, collective effort where individuals
choose to limit their interactions with individuals. In the case of a
zombie apocalypse, this choice would prove to be highly effective,
but only if it was extreme. In the article we read, why outbreaks like the
coronavirus spread exponentially, and how to flatten the curve,
simulations were created to show the effectiveness 'free-for-all'
and 'attempted' quarantines would have on an outbreak.
As expected, these types of quarantines weren’t very effective because
those infected traveled and were able to spread easily – plus there
weren't many attempting to stay isolated in homes. Moderate and
extreme quarantines proved to be very effective however. This is
because those infected did not reach many individuals. Those who were
healthy stayed healthy because they remained isolated in their
homes, and the few that were sick recovered before they could
pass on the disease. In the instance of a zombie apocalypse,
extreme social distancing would prove effective because it would
keep those infected out of reach from the healthy.
Adara Moore
This is going to be semi-long, so buckle in. I will cover most if not all of the basic forms of zombification.
The first example of zombification is sporification (the creation of spores). Not too long ago there were several cases of “zombie” ants and deer. They were dubbed zombies due to their suddenly odd behavior and deteriorated/over-functional movements. This epidemic was thanks to a specific fungi that released its spores sporadically, which connected to the bodies of animals and basically took control of their entire existence over the course of a few days to a few weeks. This isn’t exactly too worrying until it was also revealed that the zombie animals’ dying breath was actually a fresh shot of spores out into the wild, all set out to find a host to kill and spread the disease.
In this type of situation, I’m not exactly sure how social distancing would affect the outcome of humans in this type of apocalypse, nor am I sure if the fungus would be enough to take over our brain, which is far more advanced than that of a wild deer or minuscule ant. If I were to guess, however, social distancing would probably help, due to not allowing the spore to have a decent chance of implanting itself within a “host,” and if it were to, the range for the spores to reach and the next person to infect could possibly be too much of a strain and the spore would “die off” before it could do much harm to the next person over.
Secondly, viral infections. Somewhat like the current pandemic, if a zombie epidemic were to be due to some type of virus, social distancing would definitely help. A less realistic example of this sort of zombification would be the T-Virus from the Resident Evil series. The T-Virus changes the form and behavior of the victim, but it still remains very much intelligent and capable of problem-solving, despite having more animalistic tendencies and murderous ideologies. Social distancing would definitely be crucial in this sort of situation, due to the cure being able to act more effectively when there’s less hungry zombies trying to ruin your plans. (A cure is shown to be a syringe with a sort of medicinal within it, it acts near instantly, and the victim is returned to full consciousness. Despite the quickness of the agent, however, the zombification is also near-instant, and it’s very difficult to ward off other zombies when you’re trying to also cure one at the same time.)
Finally, the most basic form of zombification – bacterial. I’m not sure if there’s an exact word for this type of process, but the easiest way to explain it is “if you get bit or scratched by a zombie, you then become a zombie.” This process is also one of the slower ones like the sporification process. While the viral process is quick and mostly instant in terms of infection, the bacterial method is slower and really shows how the bacteria floods the system and traverses across the nervous system (affecting how the victim looks as well) before finally hitting the brain and rewiring it to be a mindless zombie that hungers for flesh. Despite being the easiest zombification method to understand and comprehend, it’s also the most difficult to answer in terms of why you should or shouldn’t socially distance yourself from others. Since the process is decently slow, there’s a chance that a cure could be found in the meantime, meaning that you can stick together with a front and fend off the zombies, curing most and hopefully avoid “the end of the world.” However, if you don’t socially distance yourself and the bacteria had become some sort of superbug, the process could become almost instant, and your entire group could fall apart in minutes, none spared. If you do decide to socially distance yourself and treat the whole apocalypse as a lone wolf mission, you could be less noticeable to the zombies and avoid zombification altogether, living out the rest of your days alone but alive. A huge downside to socially distancing yourself from others is that if you do eventually get caught by the zombies and get bitten/scratched, no matter how far you run or how loud you scream, absolutely no one would be able to help cure you, and you’ll die alone.