The front pages of the Guardian and the Mail could lead readers to believe there have been two new competing studies on the merits of one verses two metres of social distancing. In fact, both stories are reporting on the same study published yesterday in the Lancet. The research shows that infection risk is reduced by 82% with one-metre social distancing, and two metres of social distancing halves the risk again. The difference is a reduction of 82% vs one of 91%…

The WHO states that one metre is enough, advice followed by France. Germany on the other hand, opts for a compromise position of 1.5 metres. The UK is currently one of only two European countries to enforce the two-metre rule. The study broadly concludes the obvious: the more metres the less risk. It’s up to politicians to decide when the law of diminishing returns kicks in…