Day: 30 May 2020

Abandon Ridiculous Two-Metre Rule Bob's cartoon in the Telegraph on May 30th 2020 I've written a piece in today's Telegraph entitled: "For the sake of our economy, we need to scrap the absurd two-metre rule." I point out that this and other over-cautious social-distancing rules will mean our economy is permanently stuck in second gear. For most shops, the only way to keep customers six feet apart will be to introduce cumbersome one-way systems and force them to queue up outside. All very well when the only retail outlets we’re talking about are supermarkets and newsagents, but how will people observe that rule on the pavement when there are queues outside every shop?For pubs and restaurants, due to reopen on July 4th, the two-metre rule will mean that many of them can’t resume trading and those that can will be forced to operate at less than 50% capacity. I also point out that there's no scientific basis for the rule. What’s so absurd about this measure, which will decimate the hospitality trade, is that there’s no obvious scientific basis for it and many countries are much more relaxed. In South Korea, for instance, the acceptable distance in 1.4 metres, and in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and France, people are only expected to stay one metre apart.Indeed, the World Health Organisation ...