What’s Your Family’s Quarantine Level?

3 months ago the words social distancing, quarantine, and COVID-19 didn’t hold much meaning. Now they are part of our regular vocabulary! Our kids understand that they need to stay 6 feet away from their friends and that people wear masks when they go to stores.

As businesses are opening and we start to figure out what life looks like living with the coronavirus we thought it would be helpful to create these levels of quarantine. We hope you can use this color-coded system as a starting point for you as you begin socializing with friends and family. Share them with friends or family to explain how you have chosen to deal with the ongoing virus.

These levels aren’t exclusive. Your family might be a mix of two colors and that’s OK! Your family’s comfort level will probably change over time. We hope you can use this to have respectful conversations with people about what you are comfortable with.

Red: Complete Quarantine

Nobody is going in or out. All essentials are delivered to our doorstep. We’re not ready for in-person visits, but we’d love to connect online.

Orange: Self Isolation

We spend most of our time at home, but we do go for walks. Only adults wearing masks leave the house to pick up grocers or carryout orders.

Yellow: Slowly Emerging

We spend most of our time at home, but go for walks, and have seen a few family members and friends in real life. We only visit outside and stay as socially distanced as possible. We go inside stores, but we wear masks.

Green: Going Out More

We’re ready for friends and family to visit. Our kids play with other children in the neighborhood. We are comfortable going out in public as a whole family once in a while, but we aren’t going out daily.

Blue: Returning to Normal

We’ve returned to our favorite restaurants and stores, and we enjoy spending time with family and friends who are comfortable getting together. We don’t wear masks but we respect your choice to do so.

Purple: Continue Routines

We didn’t change our routine too much during this time. We’ve spent time with family and friends as always. We continue to support the businesses we enjoy.

As things begin to open up, families are trying to navigate how comfortable they are going out in public. There is a wide spectrum of how families are responding. None of these responses are right or wrong, but it can be confusing to articulate what’s best for your family.

Instead of going through a complex conversation about what we are and aren’t comfortable with every time someone invites you to get together, we hope this offers an easy way to say,

“This is where we’re at. Where are you?”

What color is your family?