Boris Johnson Promises to Cut 2-Meter Rule If Virus Cases Keep Falling
Boris Johnson Promises to Cut 2-Meter Rule If Virus Cases Keep Falling
(Bloomberg) -- U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave his strongest indication yet that he will relax social distancing rules as coronavirus cases fall.
Speaking in a televised briefing on the pandemic, he said he understands why so many people want to reduce the 2-meter minimum distance that individuals are required to keep from each other.
“Watch this space because we absolutely hear you,” Johnson said. As the numbers of cases fall the “statistical likelihood” of being close to someone with the virus is reduced, he said, although he conceded government scientists still say the 2-meter rule should continue to apply.
“I hope to be able to do that. I’m afraid to say we can’t do it yet,” Johnson said.
Businesses and Conservative Party politicians want Johnson to ease the distance rule to help shops, bars and restaurants profitably reopen and to make it easier for schools to accommodate children in classrooms. These are seen as crucial to re-starting the U.K.’s economy, which has already recorded a 20% hit since lockdown.
While Johnson and his finance minister, Rishi Sunak, say they are reviewing the rule and would like to ease it, government pandemic specialists say it’s not yet safe to relax the measure. Other countries apply shorter distance rules.
Patrick Vallance, the U.K. government’s chief scientific adviser, said “the closer you get the riskier it is.”
Steps such as wearing face coverings, standing side-by-side, or back-to-back, in spaces with good ventilation, can reduce the risk of contracting the disease, he said.
“I don’t think two meters is some sort of absolute cut off that never changes,” Vallance said at the briefing. As numbers of new cases fall, “you can start to think about ways in which you manage the distance in certain circumstances,” he added.
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