Coronavirus: Social Distancing
(asked on 16th June 2020) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the level of public observance of the two metre guidance on social distancing; and what estimate he has made of the potential level of observance of social distancing guidance if that guidance is reduced to one metre.
The Government commissioned a review into the 2m social distancing rule and took advice from a range of experts. We recognise it isn’t always possible to stay 2m away from others all the time in all settings and workplaces, and we have seen a continuous fall in the number of cases, infections and deaths. That’s why, from 4 July, our advice changed to ‘1m plus’ – which is one metre plus mitigations – where people cannot stay 2m apart. The Government expects people to continue to comply with the guidance as set out by the Government and do what is right for their families, the NHS and the community to stay as safe as possible and to avoid a second peak.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) produce a regular social survey to help the Government better understand the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on people, households and communities in Great Britain and who is following the guidance. The latest published survey findings indicate that when meeting up with other people over a half of adults (55%) always maintained social distancing, with just over 1 in 20 (6%) saying they rarely or never maintained social distancing. The full ONS published survey results can be accessed by following this link: