WASHINGTON: The United States’ top pandemic adviser said on Sunday that authorities were considering cutting social distancing rules to three feet (one metre), a move that would change a key tenet of the global fight against Covid-19.

Anthony Fauci, a world-respected figure during the coronavirus crisis, said experts at the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) were examining a Massachusetts study that found “no substantial difference” in Covid cases in schools observing six-foot and three-foot rules.

Asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” show whether that meant that a three-foot separation was sufficient, Fauci replied, “It does, indeed.” “The CDC is very well aware that data are accumulating making it look more like three feet are OK under certain circumstances,” Fauci added.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2021