Several studies published in recent days question the recommendations advocated since the start of the coronavirus epidemic in France. In particular the distance of one meter between each individual, one of the “barrier” gestures constantly repeated. These studies minimize its effectiveness.
Is staying one meter from your neighbor enough to protect yourself from coronavirus? This is what the health authorities have told us since the start of the epidemic in France. This “sanitary” distance of one meter to respect between individuals is part, with regular hand washing, of essential “barrier” gestures that the French have been trying to respect for almost a month. Problem: several studies seem to show that this distance is insufficient.
This is what we understand in particular thanks to this simulation produced by Ansys, a world specialist in digital simulation. The company has made an effort, by modeling a simple conversion between several individuals spaced one meter apart, to measure the distance that should be respected to minimize the risks. A certainty emerges: “during a sneeze or a coughing fit”, the droplets that are projected “can travel up to 28 m / s under certain conditions and do not have time to fall back to the ground under the effect of gravity “when the distance is only one meter, explains Thierry Marchal, Health Director at Ansys, interviewed on the site of futura-sciences.
According to the specialized company, the risks are much less important when the protagonists are positioned at 1.5 meters. It is even better if they are two meters apart, where “the majority of droplets, in organic matter, nitrogenous matter, etc.
There are different families like:
organic matter, which constitutes living things (animals or plants) or … “data-image =” https://cdn.futura-sciences.com/buildsv6/images/midioriginal/e/7/0/e70ccaaf4a_91935_matiere. jpg “data-more =” Read more “data-number =” “data-title =” Material “data-tooltip =” “data-url =” / sciences / definitions / matiere-matiere-15841 / “href =” https://www.futura-sciences.com/sciences/definitions/matiere-matiere-15841/”>material volume reach the ground “, even if Thierry Marchal specifies that in any case,” no risk exists “.
Running is even worse
But the worst is yet to come. According to a study jointly carried out by the universities of Louvain, in Belgium, and Eindhoven, in the Netherlands, the distance which it would be necessary to respect in certain configurations during the joggings which practice very many French during this period of confinement, should be at least three meters.
Scientists estimate in particular that during a standard running, the runner who is just behind another runner receives the particles rejected by his predecessor up to three meters after his passage. It is simply the speed of the race which explains this phenomenon. When we run, the air we breathe out remains in suspension while our body continues to move, and it is the person behind who risks absorbing it.
Again, Ansys produced a video to explain the phenomenon.
According to their results, runners should therefore respect much greater safety distances if they run behind one another: between three and ten meters depending on their speed, or favor another configuration: running diagonally, or side by side. side.
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