There is an allied issue, namely social distancing. Both policies seek to regulate social interactions. This produced the famous Six-Foot rule in closed spaces. The problem is the rule was predicated on the assumption that “the primary vector of pathogen transmission is the large drops ejected from the most vigorous exhalation events, coughing and sneezing” (Martin Z. Bazant and John W. M. Bush, “
A Guideline to Limit Indoor Airborne Transmission of COVID-19.”
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2021 Vol. 118 No. 17 e2018995118, p. 1). If the assumption were valid, the Six-Foot rule might be justified. Unfortunately, “there is now overwhelming evidence that indoor airborne transmission associated with relatively small, micron-scale aerosol droplets plays a dominant role in the spread of COVID-19, especially for so-called ‘superspreading events,’ which invariably occur indoors.” Bearing heavily on the transmission process is the kind of ventilation in the room. The authors rely on the concept of “well-mixed spaces” to conclude that generally “one is no safer from airborne pathogens at 60 ft than 6 ft” (2).
Most of the paper is devoted to technical, model-theoretic calculations of safe-spacing. They present two case studies. One is for classrooms. Under reasonable assumptions (including mask wearing), they conclude “school transmission would be rare” (7).
But their analysis “sounds the alarm for elderly homes and long-term care facilities…” (7). The Six-Foot rule fails very quickly, in as little as 3 minutes. It is no wonder that hospitalizations and deaths were so high in these facilities.
They conclude that the six-Foot rule is inadequate, and they offer “a rational, physically informed alternative for managing life in the time of COVID-19” (11). I can only concur that in social distancing as with SIP policy, rationality was absent. Science was repeatedly invoked, but at least the actions I examined here were not supported by science. The reason for this may have been identified by Lord Acton in the 19th century. “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
