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Americans Are Feeling Quarantine Fatigue After A Month Of Social Distancing

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

For most of us, it's now been more than a month since we stopped our typical daily routines and started social distancing, which means that quarantine fatigue is starting to set in or, at least, that's what some are calling this particular kind of cabin fever.

JESS GAWYRCH: Quarantine fatigue, to me, feels like a physical and mental exhaustion.

CHRISTIAN MAN: It's a bit of a malaise, and the uncertainty about when the lockdown will be over is - only adds to it.

GAWYRCH: I'm getting to a point where I'm wondering, you know, how much longer can I keep up with this? And is there a point at which I might, you know, loosen up and just go hang out with some friends? I don't know.

LAUREN HARDY: We've been sending our kids to our neighborhood tennis court to play tennis with other kids. We've had other kids coming over to go swimming.

ABBY MAXWELL: All of the kids on my street are now outside playing together in the evenings. I see adults visiting in backyards, which is kind of funny. I think they don't want other people to see that they're hanging out, but they miss each other.

KELLY: That was Jess Gawyrch (ph) here in Washington, D.C., Christian Man (ph) in Falls Church, Va., Lauren Hardy (ph) in Orlando, Fla., and Abby Maxwell (ph) in Lehi, Utah. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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