Social restrictions on people sitting on a park bench or walking on a beach don’t make biological sense according to an infectious diseases expert.
Professor Peter Collignon from the Australian National University medical school said if people stay two metres apart it should be adequate social distancing.
Professor Collignon’s comments come as NSW and Victoria introduce strict social restrictions.
“You are safer outside than inside,” he said. “I do not see how anyone’s going to get this virus if they keep two metres away from someone and I don’t see how anyone’s going to get it if they sit on a park bench.”
Beach parties should certainly be broken up, Professor Collignon, of the Australian National University medical school, said. But it made no sense to stop people walking on the beach, or pausing on the beach to rest.
“These are panic decisions not decisions based on data,” he said.
Source: Canberra Times, 2nd April 2020. https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6708162/you-are-safer-outside-than-inside-disease-expert-criticises-restrictions/?fbclid=IwAR23gPGal_iQz7RT4Gr0rhDd1ZPzx0DZKQNk046D4GfnztUB4x5OTIMaO2Y
