Why Social Distancing Works for People to Prevent Covid19/Corona Virus?

The government advice is that you should be at least 2 metres away from other people at all times, something that has been called social distancing.

But why is this needed? It's not very obvious when you are inside or in warm weather but every time you breathe your lungs are giving out water vapour which can contain the Coronavirus that causes Covid-19.

The one time that it is visually really clear that you are breathing out water vapour is in the colder weather when you see a cloud in front of your face. This is what could be breathed in by someone else and is why you should be at least 2 metres away from other people so any possible transmission is reduced.

Have a look how far the water vapour cloud moves from your mouth - it's quite a long way but over 2 metres it drops and by then the virus will have reached the ground.

The reason the distance matters is that the vapour spreads out according to the inverse square law so if you double the distance the amount halves. So the quantity of virus received at 2m will be one quarter of the amount that is received at 1m distance.

Essentially the further you are away from another person the better as your risk will drop by a quarter every time you double the distance.

So follow the guidance - stay well away from other people to prevent the Coronavirus being transmitted!