Covid-19: Response - Statement

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 7:41 pm on 19 May 2020.

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Photo of Lord Bethell Lord Bethell The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care 7:41, 19 May 2020

It is very simple. If you have one person from another household meeting your household, the chances are that you will all respect the two-metre social distancing recommendation. The moment a second person is present, the proximity gauges and the way in which you all relate to each other become confused. You all start standing nearer to, and breathing all over, each other, and it becomes easier to catch the disease. That is just a simple human observation and is based on human nature and on the physical science of proximity. The example that the noble Baroness gives is a really good one, and I completely feel her frustration that her two families cannot spend time together. However, the behavioural scientists are absolutely adamant on this point, and to me at least it is common sense.