'Stay one hockey stick apart': Social distancing, the Canadian way

Two meters (6 feet, 6 inches) of separation is seen as critical to preventing transmission of the virus, but with few people carrying tape measures, rules of thumb have become important.

"Stay two meters apart. It's not such a difficult thing," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote on Twitter this week. But by Friday, he was self-isolating after testing positive for the coronavirus.

The City of Toronto posted signs in parks this week urging residents to stay one hockey stick apart, evoking the country's passion for the game. Some ice hockey aficionados took to social media to quibble with the comparison - stick lengths vary depending on the position one is playing, they argued.

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In nature-loving Oregon, standing back about "one mature white sturgeon" should do it, the U.S. state's fish and wildlife department wrote on Twitter.

A safe distance is the length of one beach towel, according to the Sarasota county government in Florida; or you might follow the guidance of the City of Calgary, Alberta, who suggested a "big llama."

The span of a set of downhill skis in the Rocky Mountain state of Colorado is a good safeguard, its public health department said.

Some comparisons may miss a broader audience. Five closed drip torches - a fuel canister with a handle that firefighters use - is enough safe distance, tweeted a Michigan organization that promotes using fire for ecological management.

But is two meters actually enough?

Not even close, a study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology concluded this week. Coughs and sneezes can generate clouds of viral droplets of seven to eight meters, it said.

Or roughly four hockey sticks.

(Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Allison Martell in Toronto, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)