Coffee mornings in the street ‘could still put people at risk’

Neighbours enjoying ‘socially distanced’ chats over tea and coffee could still be putting each other at risk.

Pictures of the street gatherings have gone down a treat on social media, as people try to keep everyone’s spirits up during the nationwide coronavirus lockdown.

Comedian Nick Doody shared a sweet snap of his neighbours as they enjoyed a ‘socially distanced cuppa’ on foldable chairs a few metres apart.

He tweeted: ‘Our street now has a WhatsApp group & this morning one neighbour was struggling with loneliness, so earlier we all had a socially distanced cuppa and chat together. This stuff makes a difference.’

Many others commented on the post, sharing their own pictures of ‘socially distanced’ meet-ups.

While these neighbours are standing over two metres apart, the Government has banned all gatherings of more than two people in public, with Britons warned against meeting even friends or family.

People have been told to only go outside for food, exercise once a day, health reasons or work, so long as you can’t do it from home.

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Police forces also have the power to arrest any person not following these strict quarantine measures.

Dr Simon Clarke, an expert in cellular microbiology from the University of Reading, said people are putting each other at risk by meeting outside, even at supposedly safe distances.

Dr Clarke said ‘there are too many casual assumptions being made around Covid-19,’ with scientists still working out just how infectious the virus really is.

He added: ‘We’ve only known about this virus for three months, so know virtually nothing.’

It comes as a new study suggested social distancing gaps should be four times bigger than two metres, at around 26 feet. 

The study from an academic at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found droplets containing the virus – when in a moist and warm atmosphere – can be sneezed out at speeds between 33 and 100 feet per second.

This creates what is known as a ‘turbulent gas cloud’ spanning up to eight metres that can reach neighbouring people.

The study also warned viral droplets can remain suspended in the air for several hours, and their direction can be easily changed by air ventilation systems.

These infected mucus or saliva droplets are released in the usual way – when we cough, sneeze, speak and breathe. And they infect other people when they enter their body through the eyes, nose or mouth.

The MIT study concluded that current two-metre social distancing advice is ‘based on estimates of range that have not considered the possible presence of a high-momentum cloud carrying the droplets long distances’.

The study added: ‘Given the turbulent puff cloud dynamic model, recommendations for separations of three feet to six feet (one metre to two metres) may underestimate the distance, timescale, and persistence over which the cloud and its pathogenic payload travel, thus generating an underappreciated potential exposure range for a healthcare worker.

‘For these and other reasons, wearing of appropriate personal protection equipment is vitally important for health care workers caring for patients who may be infected, even if they are farther than six feet away from a patient.’

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