The two-meter social distancing rule will no longer be required, according to scientists. The reversal comes amid a reduction of coronavirus and hospitalization across the UK.
Scientists in the UK have said they are now comfortable with a one-meter social distancing rule, instead of two meters that had been in place since the pandemic hit the country. The UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson welcomed the news, with senior sources indicating that scientists in the country will not resist if a policy requiring only one-meter social distancing rule is implemented by the government.
Across the UK, coronavirus cases have been on a decline in the last few weeks, thanks to aggressive contact tracing and lockdown that has lasted for more than two months. The lockdown restrictions, however, are slowly being lifted across the UK, with many industries calling for the government to abolish some of the harshest restrictions such as social distancing rules.
Change of the social distancing rule
The two of the most affected industries are the hospitality and education sectors. Hotels, pubs, and restaurant chains have long called on the government to remove the 2-meter social distancing rule, terming it as restrictive to their trade, and which was causing them to lose customers and profits.
With the economy struggling, and the UK, recording for the first time in 57 years, the GDP was less than the debts of the country, reopening economy seems like a plausible solution. The government has already lifted a lot of coronavirus restrictions and is slowly getting workers back to work, with millions having been laid off since the virus started spreading in the country.
Education sector hit hard by lockdowns
The education has also been in limbo for months with reopening dates being a contentious issue across the region. However, on June 1st, the decision to reopen schools had already been made and students were told they could return to classes.
More than two weeks later, the students’ attendance has been poor, as many schools still remain closed, and a majority of parents being anxious about sending their children to schools. However, the Prime Minister indicated that he expected the classes to be running at full capacity come September.
He also told the country to ‘watch this space’ when confronted with the question of whether he would be relaxing the social distancing requirements for schools.
Relaxation of social distancing rules from the current two meters to one meter would make perfect sense and prevent schools from having to get extra venues for their students. All indications from scientists indicated that it was safe to lift the two-meter rule across the country as long as other safety measures such as hygiene and masks were observed.
Gavin Williamson, the secretary for education, expressed his to the Prime Minister for his plan of ensuring the schools are running on full capacity by September. He said they were looking at different ways they could make such a goal attainable.
Featured image by Pixabay
