[Daily Mail]: Social distancing orders for people to keep two metres apart to stop the spread of coronavirus is not based on any scientific research, a government adviser has warned. Robert
Dingwall, from the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory
Group (Nervtag), said the rule was 'conjured up out of nowhere'.
The
sociology professor at Nottingham Trent University said scientific
evidence supports a one-metre gap, but the two-metre advice was a 'rule
of thumb'. Nervtag feeds into the
Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), which is spearheading
the government's pandemic response.
Mr Dingwall told Radio 4's Today: 'We
cannot sustain [social distancing measures] without causing serious
damage to society, to the economy and to the physical and mental health
of the population.
'I think it will be
much harder to get compliance with some of the measures that really do
not have an evidence base. I mean the two-metre rule was conjured up out
of nowhere.'
He added: 'Well there is a
certain amount of scientific evidence for a one-metre distance which
comes out of indoor studies in clinical and experimental settings. There's
never been a scientific basis for two metres, it's kind of a rule of
thumb. But it's not like there is a whole kind of rigorous scientific
literature that it is founded upon.'
The
government put the UK on lockdown on March 23 and enforced social
distancing to try to combat the spread of the virus which has killed
nearly 20,000. Guidance on its website
says: 'If you meet others when you are outdoors (for example, on a walk)
ensure that you stay at least 2 metres away.' ...<<<Read The Full Article Here>>>>...