How (and when) to put together a social bubble
"It's four of us, but we're all in a monogamous pandemic relationship with each other." (Johanna Dahlberg / Unsplash/)Follow all of PopSci’s COVID-19 coverage here, including tips on cleaning groceries, ways to tell if your symptoms are just allergies, and a tutorial on making your own mask.In theory, it’s simple. To combat the weariness and mental health consequences of strict confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic, experts have been touting the idea of forming “social bubbles” or “quaranteams”—groups of people that socialize normally with each other, but only with each other. The idea is to widen your social horizons in a controlled way, so you’re free to touch, hug, snuggle, and kiss the people in your bubble to your hearts’ content. If someone in the bubble is infected, the virus is contained within the group and the spread stops there. After a substantial decrease in transmission rates, the governments of New Zealand, Canada,...