Why six feet? Is that really far enough to protect you and others? Based on studies of air flow, some scientists say farther would be even better.
Researchers say no guideline is likely to offer perfect safety. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention bases its recommendation on the idea that most large droplets that people expel when they cough or sneeze will fall to the ground within six feet.
But air currents can carry virus particles from an infected person to another location more than 20 feet away. We visualized a cough to show how far respiratory droplets can spread.
Current guidelines already suggest that anyone at high risk should stay home and not be out in public in the first place. And they seem to be working. Places where people reduced travel and started social distancing weeks ago, especially in California, New York and Washington, are starting to show a reduction in the number of new coronavirus cases.
People still need to shop and take care of necessities, Dr. Osterholm said, but reducing the risk of exposure to all possible modes of transmission — infected surfaces, droplets and smaller aerosols — is important.
“Your job is to limit it as much as you can.”
网友评论