The Terrifying Reason Six Feet of Distance May Not Be Enough

Six feet of separation has been touted as the gold standard when it comes to social distancing, just the right amount space to maintain between yourself and others to keep you safe from coronavirus transmission. Unfortunately, a new study suggests that six feet may not be nearly enough distance to offer adequate protection after all.

According to a study published on May 19 in the journal Physics of Fluids, the respiratory droplets responsible for infecting people with coronavirus rarely travel six feet when wind isn’t a factor. However, with even the slightest breeze, those droplets can travel significantly farther—up to nearly 20 feet in five seconds in wind speeds of just under 2.5 miles per hour, and that same distance in just 1.6 seconds if winds are blowing at nine miles per hour.

Perhaps even more frightening, the study found that in conditions without wind, all respiratory droplets hit the ground before reaching the six-foot mark, but when the wind was blowing at nine miles per hour, many droplets were still more than 3 feet off the ground when they reached the 19-foot mark—suggesting an increased likelihood of coming into contact with people in their path…