New study claims two-metre rule is based on ‘outdated’ science as sneeze droplets can travel eight metres

The two-metre rule is based on “outdated” science because there is evidence that coronavirus droplets can travel up to 8m (26ft) when someone sneezes or shouts, researchers have claimed.

Social distancing guidelines are “over-simplistic”, as small droplets containing COVID-19 can go much further than the government claims, according to the study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

It says that high-risk environments – such as nightclubs or bars – should be subject to social distancing rules of up to 8m, while lower-risk settings could have their rules significantly relaxed.

The report claims: “This would provide greater protection in the highest risk settings but also greater freedom in lower risk settings, potentially enabling a return towards normality in some aspects of social and economic life.”

Breathing out, singing, coughing, and sneezing generate gas clouds of exhaled air containing respiratory droplets, they added.

These clouds move the droplets faster and can extend their range up to 7 or 8m within a few seconds.

Read more via Sky News/BMJ