{"id":15456,"date":"2020-06-30T10:30:36","date_gmt":"2020-06-30T10:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/factcheckni.org\/?p=15456"},"modified":"2022-02-27T14:37:22","modified_gmt":"2022-02-27T14:37:22","slug":"social-distancing-in-northern-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/factcheckni.org\/topics\/health\/social-distancing-in-northern-ireland\/","title":{"rendered":"Social distancing in Northern Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This article explains what the rules are in Northern Ireland regarding the social distance between people. It also discusses the evidence regarding lessening the current 2 metre distance.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[This article is part of the COVID-19 Information Dissemination (COVID-19 ID) Project<\/a> \u2014 a partnership between Community Development and Health Network (CDHN)<\/a> and FactCheckNI<\/a>. Its aim is to improve people\u2019s health literacy about COVID-19 by providing accurate and up-to-date information<\/a> that will increase knowledge, understanding and confidence and enable people to make good health decisions.]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Northern Ireland context<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Northern Ireland, for the first three months of lockdown<\/a>, public health guidance<\/a> stated that if you had to leave the place where you live, you had to maintain a social distance of at least 2 metres (approximately 6 feet 6 inches) between you and anyone outside of your household, to minimise your exposure to COVID-19 and the potential to spread the infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday 25 June, the Northern Ireland Executive amended their guidance around social distancing. While people should still aim to stay 2 metres apart, First Minister Arlene Foster said<\/a> that from Monday 29 June, “A minimum 1 metre distance between individuals can be considered acceptable in circumstances where appropriate mitigations are made.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Distance, although important, is not the only factor; environment, duration of time spent, and crucially the rate of community transmission of the infection<\/a> are all vital in managing COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department for Communities has produced Guidance for Urban Centres and Green Spaces<\/a>, which \u201ccontains information on assessing possible issues and provides some examples of interventions that may be undertaken by the owners and operators of public spaces to keep people safer as and when the restrictions are relaxed and these places become busier\u201d. It focuses on five principles for safer urban centres and green spaces during the period of COVID-19:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Social distancing;<\/li>
  2. Protecting people who are at higher risk;<\/li>
  3. Face coverings;<\/li>
  4. Cleaning; and<\/li>
  5. Hygiene \u2014 hand washing.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Schools and the changes to social distancing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    On 18 June 2020, the Northern Ireland Executive announced that the 2 metre distance will be reduced to 1 metre for children returning to school on 24 August (5:08)<\/a>, following advice from the Public Health Agency and the Chief Medical Officer on the basis of \u2018protective bubbles\u2019<\/a> being established for all school aged children under year 11. The protective bubbles approach will organise children into small groups with consistent membership to reduce risk. All school aged children above year 11 should practice social distancing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This 1 metre reduction aims to allow almost full class sizes to resume<\/a>, but with social distancing in place.\u00a0The Minister for Education, Peter Weir, issued guidance<\/a> on 19 June for schools and teachers, outlining the plans and scientific guidance<\/a> that informed the change. In studies to date<\/a>, it has been found that the rate and severity of infection in under 20 year olds is significantly lower than the rest of the population, and people in this age group are around half as likely<\/a> to contract the infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This guidance will be reviewed throughout the summer prior to children returning to school. Northern Ireland was the first region<\/a> in the United Kingdom to announce reducing the 2 metre social distancing guidance in any circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    On 23 June, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced<\/a> a \u201cone metre plus\u201d rule for England would come into effect from 4 July, but indicated that people should remain 2 metres apart, if possible. Other mitigating measures<\/a> were suggested to limit transmission, including not sitting face-to-face, readily-available hand-sanitiser, and limiting the number of people in enclosed spaces. This was in response to calls from business leaders<\/a> to relax the distance given the impact on the profitability of businesses and ahead of restaurants and pubs reopening on the 4 July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Why was the safe distance initially set at 2 metres?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Countries across the world have taken different approaches to the distance they deem to be sufficient for safe social distancing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n