Quaranteam

Two weeks ago, Lichaa and Noulinthavong formed what some are calling a “quaranteam,” loosely defined as the group of people you choose to live with during the coronavirus pandemic.

Once in the quaranteam pod, you will have to adhere to a golden rule: You can't see anybody else. This is an extremely difficult rule to enforce, especially as quarantine drags on.

Gideon Lichfield, the Editor-in-Chief of the MIT Technology Review, recently broke two months of isolation to form with some friends what's known as a "pod," a "bubble" or a "quaranteam" — that's "team," with an "m."

And research suggests that the quaranteam model might be the answer for getting through what’s likely to be months more of social distancing.

In closing, we thank our loved ones and "quaranteams" who afforded us this opportunity, during a period that required attention to care of others and ourselves, to carve out time to finish this work.

For those who remain solo during the stay-at-home order – or for those who are in other undesirable living situations – the internet has made it possible to fantasize about who they could quaranteam with.

Considering the risks, the most important thing to do before choosing to quaranteam is to establish trust with the people who you want to shack up with.

He made the decision mid-March to quaranteam with a woman he had been casually dating for two months, named Heff.

I don't envy him having a mostly virtual collage, but he's making the most of it, quaranTEAMing with his boyfriend and bingeing our parents's streaming services. I'm totally jealous.