Tackling the Covid-19 pandemic and the loneliness epidemic together Peter A. Bath, Information School and School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), University of Sheffield. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the current advice from the government is that we should all be taking social distancing measures and reducing our interaction with other people as much as possible to avoid spreading the coronavirus. Some groups in particular, for example, people aged 70 and over and those with long-term health problems, are being asked to limit their contact with friends and family to protect themselves. Whilst it is good that this can help reduce the spread of the virus, and protect vulnerable people, it also runs the risk of making people feel more isolated and lonely. We live in an age in which there is what has been called “an epidemic of loneliness”. Older people and those with long-term health problems are not only more vulnerable to the effects of Covid-19, but they are also ...
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