LIFD deputy director warns of relaxing social distancing two-metre rule

LIFD deputy director Cath Noakes has stated that the coronavirus transmission rate is still too high to relax the current two-metre social distancing rule, as suggested

Professor Noakes, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies and an expert on airborne infection, said that even being four metres apart in a poorly-ventilated indoor space could lead to contracting Covid-19, and that social distancing outside is just as important as inside: “When you are face to face with the person who is infected and if they cough or sneeze at you it doesn’t really matter whether you’re indoors or outdoors."

The deputy director told The Times (paywall): "There are too many cases in the community for us to consider going below two metres. There is transmission happening already, when we've been applying the [two-metre] distancing. If we reduce it, essentially, you double the risk."

Further details and comments from Professor Noakes on this subject can be found in The Times (paywall), Inews, and the Daily Mail.