The Telegraph's like a terrier with a bone this morning - it's really being tenacious with its reporting of scrapping the 2m rule. I've highlighted a few key bits in bold.
Earlier in the week they had a lovely animation showing that sneezes and coughs spread germs far beyond 2m, but that wearing masks squashes it to below 1m.
My own view? 2m is the bare minimum needed. In the few times I've been out to the shops I've seen plenty of coughing and spluttering and I know full well in the past I've picked up a cold after being coughed or sneezed on in a supermarket - I'm sure most of us have!
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/05/01/two-metre-rule-reviewed-amid-hope-relaxed-restrictions-could/
It is believed that the Government is considering reopening schools before the summer holidays – probably in June – so that there will be a natural point when they could be closed again if infections start to rise, without disrupting parents for a second time.
Unions met ministers on Friday and discussed plans for schools to be given three weeks’ notice to reopen, adding to speculation that pupils may start to return after the May half-term holiday.
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The World Health Organisation only recommends staying one metre apart, and following the less rigid approach would allow Britons to travel and work more freely when restrictions are eventually lifted.
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Officials from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are also understood this week to have raised the issue of whether the two-metre rule could be relaxed in talks with the hospitality sector this week.
Last Tuesday, Sage said the two-metre rule “remains appropriate” but ministers have asked the committee to look again at the measures.
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Next week, Sage will publish a paper looking in detail at transmission in the environment which is expected to say that people are far more likely to pick up coronavirus from surfaces than through droplets in the air.
A senior source in No 10 confirmed that the two-metre rule had been looked at by Sage. However, the source said amending it was a “non-starter”.
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“Standing in line two metres apart outside supermarkets does not make a lot of sense,” Prof Dingwall said.
“The two-metre rule does not have validity and has never had much of an evidence base. I’ve tried to trace it myself.
"There is a fairly solid evidence base for a transmission rate if indoors and within one metre of someone with a respiratory infection for 15 minutes, but that time detail has been lost somewhere along the way.
“It is extraordinarily unlikely that any transmission will occur in the few seconds you are standing next to someone as you both reach for the instant coffee.
“It means that people are worrying unnecessarily when a jogger brushes past them in the park, for example, when transient contact is not an issue.”
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Some experts believe there is no airborne transmission outdoors at all, as larger droplets carrying the infection get caught on clothes or fall to the ground before they can be inhaled.
Originally Posted by: Retron