Keeping 1-meter distance lowers risk of getting COVID-19 by 82% —physicians

Physicians are stressing the importance of social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that the farther away people are from each other, the lower their chances of acquiring the virus.

In JP Soriano's report on "24 Oras," the The Philippine Society of Public Health Physicians (PSPHP) said that one meter of physical distancing is equal to an 82-percent reduction in the chances of getting the virus.

Two meters of distancing is equal to a 91-percent reduction in your chances of getting infected, while three meters lowers your chances by 96 percent.

Wearing face masks and face shields also decreasea an individual's chances of being infected, the PSPHP said.

An N95 mask reduces chances of getting infected by 96 percent, while masks made from cloth or are not N95 lower the chance of infection by 67 percent.

Wearing an eye shield or other eye protection lowers chances by an additional 78 percent, while there is a lower chance of infection in an open area than in a closed one.

"Kung lahat 'yan combined... 99.9 percent reduction in transmission. Kung [mask] lang, 67, 'wag malungkot kasi nag-mask ka," Dr. Romelei Alfonso, of the PSPHP, said.

The Department of Health (DOH) has also repeatedly stressed the importance of physical distancing to curb the spread of the virus. — Joahna Lei Casilao/BM, GMA News