Khloe Kardashian, 35, didn’t miss a beat in May when a fan dragged her for allowing her daughter True, 2, to play with her nieces and nephews at a birthday party for Scott Disick.
“They are all cousins,” the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star wrote in the comments section of the Dashkids fan account. “So we know how they have been quarantined and there’s less then [sic] 10 people with us.”
“It’s literally what the governor states is perfectly OK to do in the state of California,” she says referring to the above clip.
But is Khloe correct? After three long months of staying at home to stop the spread of the coronavirus, now that the lockdown restrictions are easing, is it safe to socialize with a small group of people?
Dr. Michael G. Knight – an Assistant Professor of Medicine at George Washington University – broke down the dos and don’ts of socializing with a trusted few (aka quaran-teaming) in an EXCLUSIVE interview with HollywoodLife:
Is it safe to socialize with a select group of people in your own team if you’re only going to hang out with each other?
Dr. Knight: “I wouldn’t say safe, but I would say that it’s a decreased risk. We understand that – as we want to get back to some level of normalcy – everyone is going to have to accept a certain level of risk to do that, because this is a communicable disease. We each have to make a determination on what level of risk [I’m] willing to take. Now, if I am socializing with individuals that have also committed to limit their socializing outside of our circle, then that’s a much lower risk scenario than me just going out and meeting [a] variety of people who are also meeting with other people.”
Is Khloe Kardashian right to say that, in her case, it’s fine because they’ve all been in quarantine?
Dr. Knight: “I don’t know the specifics of [their] situation, but if it was a situation where each one of those families was in their own home for over a week and never left, never interacted with anyone else, and never had any symptoms, then the risk of them transmitting the virus to each other when they came together is extremely low. Them being cousins has nothing to do with it. [If] I’m related to you, but we don’t live together, there’s no decreased risk.”
What’s the sweet spot in terms of the figure or size of your circle? Is there a number?
Dr. Knight: “There’s really no sweet spot. I think the recommendation of groups of 10 or less are just somewhere on the spectrum… You’re trying to find a place where you reduce the risk enough, but you also allow people to have enough social flexibility to feel some level of normalcy. For some people, I would say probably between five to 10.”
Ultimately, Dr. Knight believes that when you pick your quaran-team you have to trust that they will also limit the socializing to within that group. “The [bigger] the circle, the higher the likelihood that at least one person is not going to do that completely,” he said. Dr. Knight also noted, “Every time that I go out and interact with other people, then I’m increasing the risk that I can bring something to your home… So who you choose has nothing to do with if you’re related to them. It’s about, are you all committed to limit your interactions with other people outside of your circle, so that we can socialize in a lower risk scenario?”
As the lockdown restrictions lift while the pandemic still rages, that’s a question we’ll all have to ask ourselves.