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1.5 metres

The tape measure was for droplets. The slogan was for the virus.

To stop the spread, stay 1.5m from others.

Quoted in source: “To stop the spread, stay 1.5m from others, follow rules on social gatherings, wash hands, stay home if sick.”

25 March 2020. A government SMS, 150 characters, endorsed by Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy. Greg Hunt’s release: “To stop the spread, stay 1.5m from others.” Also: “Be at least 1.5 metres away from everyone.”

This card files that verb. It does not file “stand where you like.”

What did have a receipt:

  • 1.5 m is a droplet heuristic. Large drops fall. Fine aerosols hang around indoors and do not stop at a line of tape.
  • “Stop the spread” is a hard stop. Distance can cut close-range spray. It is not a switch for an airborne virus in a badly ventilated room.
  • The same release stacked wash hands, stay home if sick, don’t touch your face. Those are other meters. The number that stuck was one-point-five.

Grammar: 1.5 m, droplets. Logic: that is not “stop.” Rhetoric: a text message to every phone.