Keep your Distance! How Socially Distant are you really?

Covid-19, being an airborne transmitted virus like cold and flu viruses, spreads when an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks, and droplets from their nose and mouth are launched into the air and land in the noses and mouths of people nearby. These droplets when inhaled, spread the virus in the body.

Hence, “Social Distancing” or physical distancing is often recommended, in conjunction with wearing face masks, as one of the effective means of protecting yourself from the disease. As per the recommendations of the WHO, it means keeping a minimum distance of six feet (1.82 meters) from the people around you, especially when you interact with them.

But how do we know how far six feet really is? One recommendation has been to keep two arms lengths distance from anyone around you. But that of course will differ from person to person, since we all have different heights and wingspans.

The term wingspan, also known as arm span, is the length from one end of an individual's arms (measured at the fingertips) to the other when raised parallel to the ground at shoulder height at a 90º angle. Normally, most people’s wingspans would be equal to their height. I measured my wingspan, and it was 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 meters), the same as my height.

In order to know if we are following proper social distancing norms in our day-to-day surroundings, I went out with a measuring tape in my apartment complex and decided to measure the distances of places where we might run into and interact with people.

Here are the results:

Door

Sometimes, you might come across someone who is coming through the door from the other side. In such cases I would recommend you leave a wide berth and let them go first, before you enter. That is because a door is 3 feet wide (0.91 meters), and you definitely cannot socially distance in such a narrow space.

Corridor

If you are staying in an apartment, it is likely that you will run into your neighbours in the corridor whenever you leave the house. If you stick to one side of the corridor, you can maintain sufficient physical distance from them. In my apartment complex, the corridors are around 7 feet 3 inches wide (2.2 meters) at their widest point. So you can definitely give a wide leeway to anyone approaching from the opposite side.

Lift

Lifts are a hazardous area to be around in these times. First of all, the lift doors are around 3 feet wide, so like earlier, I would recommend letting the passenger in the lift exit before you decide to enter. Also, the distance between each wall is only five feet (1.5 meters). And the lift is a confined space with less air flow. Hence, I would not recommend sharing a lift with anyone if possible, and if you have no other choice, ensure that they are at least wearing a mask properly.

Queuing up for shopping

In my apartment complex, they have introduced measures to enforce social distancing when shopping. First of all, they only allow a fixed number of people inside the shop at a time. Also, they have painted squares outside the shop for people to queue in. I measured the distance between the squares, and it is exactly six feet (1.82 meters). That means queuing up should be relatively safe, as long as everyone is disciplined and sticks to their box.

Walking Path

With people still apprehensive about going to the gym, walking and running have become popular alternatives for people looking to maintain their fitness. Of course, when you are walking, especially on a walking path, it is inevitable that you will run across other people. The walking paths in my colony are generally five and a half feet wide (1.67 meters). Which means that if both parties stick to their sides of the path, they can maintain at least five feet (1.5 meters) of physical distance.

A Road

Say you are uncomfortable on the walking path as you feel you cannot maintain sufficient physical distance. Then you can walk on the roads in the colony. The roads are around 15 feet wide (4.57 meters), and there is more than sufficient distancing that can be maintained, especially if both parties walk on opposite sides of the road.

Conclusion

Social Distancing is a simple, yet effective way of keeping yourself and others safe during the time of a pandemic. Following this, in conjunction with wearing face masks, greatly reduces the risk of catching the Covid-19 virus. However, a lot of us still do not know how to estimate distances correctly. A simple rule of thumb to remember is that our wingspan equals our height, and so we know how to easily and roughly calculate the recommended safe distance of six feet. I hope this article has given you a better understanding of the distance we need to maintain, and I wish you share it with others as well.