Thanks to constant reminders from the nation’s top health agencies, the cardinal rules of coronavirus have become easy to remember: wash your hands, wear a face mask and maintain social distance to keep yourself and others safe. But certain activities do not always make it easy to follow that third guideline – especially when it comes to eating out, traveling, or even just enjoying an afternoon in the park. So, exactly how far should you be from those around you? Based on recent research, you should try to sit down the equivalent of two rows of each, especially if they have COVID symptoms.
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To achieve this finding is the paper, published in the journal JAMA Network open, examined 24 members of a tourist group on a flight between Tel Aviv, Israel and Frankfurt, Germany, with seven travelers testing positive for the virus on arrival. A later assessment of the plane’s passengers found that two additional cases were likely the result of transmission during the flight – with both newly infected passengers sitting within two rows of the infectious passengers.
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Travelers on a plane wearing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic
The authors of the study admit that the direction of the airflow on the aircraft, the lack of face masks, and missing data from some passengers may help to explain some of the findings. But they are ultimately still holding on to the idea that six feet of distance – like two meters, which is about the length of the space created by two rows of overhead seats – drastically reduces the chance of COVID-19, even in an enclosed space like an airplane cabinet.
How do these findings stack up against other research? A study published in June in the medical journal The Lancet found that holding at least one meter of space between people was normal enough to protect against the transmission of the virus. But it also found that the risk of infection dropped from 13 percent in that range to less than 3 percent when the distance was increased. And research by the UK Commission of Scientific Advisers has found that people who are just over three feet apart are between two and ten times more likely to be six feet apart, the BBC reports.
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In general, medical experts still advise that combining social distance with wearing a face mask and regular hand washing is the best way to protect against emerging coronavirus. And for more dangerous zones, check out this One place is where you are most likely to get COVID, research findings.
Gallery: 22 Risky Places to Capture Coronavirus (ETNT Health)
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