Why your home is the key to beating Covid-19

In 1627, in an attempt to repay large debts left by his predecessors, English monarch King Charles I imposed a feudal levy on landowners without the consent of Parliament. These levies were subsequently deemed to be illegal and many English landowners refused to pay them – an act of defiance for which Charles had them imprisoned. Anger at these policies and practices reached all the way to the English Parliament where many MPs were opposed to Charles – a situation which ultimately led him to dissolve Parliament and declare martial law.

This led to the coining of the famous phrase "a man’s home is his Castle" (paraphrased) by former Chief Justice Sir Edward Coke. This simple phrase, which meant no one should be able to enter your home, or levy taxes against it, without consent, became a fundamental principle of British Common Law and also strongly influenced American politics. In fact, 268 years after he penned the phrase, Cokes declaration was the central principle behind the refusal of States to allow the levying of federal taxes – forcing the US legislature to introduce the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution to overcome the impasse.

Fast forward to 2020 and Coke's phrase has relevance to us again, today. But this time, the threat isn’t from a king or government, it comes from a virus that is invisible to the naked eye but is capable of making us very ill, or even killing us.

As a result the Government has moved the country to Alert Level 4 – the level at which all Kiwis, other than those engaged in essential services, are required to isolate themselves in their homes for at least four weeks. Effectively, we’re now under a form of martial law – all in the hope of keeping out a virus which has already wreaked havoc in other parts of the world. Whether these measures will be enough only time will tell but they demonstrate how seriously the Government is taking the threat presented by Covid-19.

These steps also reinforce the importance of the kiwi home and how important it could be to helping us to ultimately beat this scourge as the safety message now boils down to just two words: "Stay Home."

Why is this important? Because the act of staying at home is the very definition of self isolation. If it works, it will help to "flatten the curve" - the phrase which is used to describe the reduction in the number of people infected by reducing contact between people and thereby flattening the spread of the disease. The more people who do this the less of an impact the virus will have – and the more likely it is that our health services will be able to cope with the number of Covid-19 cases.

But self isolation isn’t just about doing the right thing for our communities, it’s also a smart move for us and our families. If you’re not exposed to others who may have contracted the virus it’s very difficult to contract it yourself. Currently, the best information suggests that Covid-19 is transmitted through coughing and sneezing, close personal contact, and contact with an object or surface with viral particles on it and then touching your mouth, nose or eyes – so reducing your exposure to other people and places means you’re much more likely to be safe.

Interestingly, this self preservation aspect of staying at home is also encapsulated in another word within Coke's famous phrase – the word "castle". This word comes from the Latin castellum, which basically means ‘fort’ – and it would be difficult to think of a more apt word to describe the importance of your home in this time of crisis. A fort is a defensive structure designed to keep out invaders, and while we no longer live in fear of foreign marauders, we’re very much at risk of attack by a foreign bug, right now.

So, the message is simple: if you want to dramatically increase your chances of avoiding infection by the coronavirus, the steps to do so are relatively clear. Stay away from populated public places, work from home, and avoid contact with anyone if you don’t know where they’ve been or who else they’ve been in contact with.

Now, more than ever before, your home is your castle.

- Ashley Church is a property commentator for OneRoof.co.nz. Email him at [email protected]