COVID-19: Masks, Distancing and Working from Home – What Freedom Could We Get on ‘Freedom Day’? | Scientific and technological news

The COVID controls we have lived with for over 15 months are all aimed at breaking the chain of transmission.

Masks reduce the number of virus particles released into the air by a person who may not even know they are infected.

The 1m-plus rule is to reduce the number of particles being inhaled by someone else.

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And the recommendation to work from home is really a recommendation to limit unnecessary contact with other people.

Together, they have helped reduce the spread of the virus.

But the Prime Minister has hinted that some may need to stay a bit longer, even after “Freedom Day” in England – currently scheduled for July 19 – to ease the resurgent virus.

It would seem certain that the 1m and above rule will work.

This limits the number of customers that pubs and restaurants can have at the same time and requires them to employ additional staff for table service. The first reduces revenue, the second increases costs and some businesses are really struggling.

Encouraging people to work from home reduces contact with other commuters and limits the chances of the virus spreading in an office.

But the cafes and cafes in the city center lack the passing trade – they too are struggling.

What about the masks?

They are not popular, especially in hot weather. And they’ve made it much harder for people who depend on lip reading to understand what’s going on around them.

Their precise benefit is still disputed. But one study estimated that they reduced the R-number, the virus’s rate of spread, by about 12%.

So for individuals they probably only make a small difference, but across the population they have a measurable impact.

Of all the controls, masks are therefore the most likely to stay, possibly under limited circumstances.

The…