SCIENCE had to tell us that viruses are less likely to spread outdoors because it isn’t immediately obvious.
The United Kingdom is now allowing people to spend time outdoors, because smart government people and experts have just realized that viruses are less likely to spread in an environment with plenty of fresh air and sunlight, compared to an environment of recycled air.
This shocking discovery is yet to reach most of the countries under lockdown that are forcing people to live under strict house arrest.
Spending time in the fresh air and sunshine can reduce someone’s risk of catching the coronavirus, a scientific adviser to the Government has said.
People are now allowed to spend as much time as they like outdoors – as long as they keep socially distanced from others.
The first step out of the draconian lockdown, which has now been in place for 52 days, was announced by the Prime Minister on Sunday and began on Wednesday.
Scientists have said the minor tweak in rules is because there is a ‘low risk’ of the virus spreading between people outdoors.
Professor Alan Penn, a member of SAGE, the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, reassured that those who flock to the parks that the risk of catching the virus outside is lower.
He said: ‘The science suggests that being outside in sunlight, with good ventilation, are both highly protective against transmission of the virus.’
Other scientists say they ‘totally agree’ with Professor Penn and advocate spending more time outdoors, where the virus is less likely to survive.
People are more likely to catch the infection in enclosed spaces with other people, where ventilation is poor and strangers touch the same surfaces regularly.
Viruses may be less able to survive on surfaces outside in sunlight, as UV damages their genetic material, meaning people are less likely to pick them up, scientists say.
It’s not just that the virus is less likely to spread outdoors but also that fresh air and sunlight are healthy for people, and healthy people are more likely to successfully battle viruses.
This was obviously already well-known before the lockdown, so why did they force everyone to stay at home?
Why are they acting as if it is a recent discovery that viruses are more likely to spread indoors than outdoors?
Why didn’t they allow people to take a walk and go to the park, but did allow gatherings at crowded supermarkets?
It makes no sense unless you assume that they wanted people to suffer psychologically.
Professor Penn, the chief scientific adviser at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, has attended four key SAGE meetings with ministers.
He spoke to MPs on Wednesday to explain why people’s outdoor activities are not restricted any more.
The Government has said people can exercise as often as they like, an extension on the current one hour, and sunbathers won’t be fined for heading to parks – so long as they obey strict social distancing rules.
People can meet with up to one person from outside their household, as long as they stay a two metre distance apart and meet in a public place, not a house or garden.
It’s also acceptable to ‘drive to outdoor open spaces irrespective of distance’ as long as they are not in other parts of the UK.
But the slight relaxation on movement does not come without risks. If people break the rules, infection levels will rise again.
You can meet your friends as long as you do it one friend at a time, in a public space with no intimacy, and as long as you stay at least two meters away from them.
This is for your own good.
Human contact can kill you.