IN FOR THE LONG HAUL

British Scientists Warn Social Distancing Will Last for Most of This Year

It’s not good news for anyone who’s struggling with being holed up at home this week.

If you’re feeling a little stir crazy after a week of staying at home, you might want to look away now. The team of British scientists that is advising the U.K. government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has warned that social-distancing restrictions will have to be enforced for “at least most of a year” if they’re going to control the spread of the disease. The U.K. government published a scientific report Friday. It said that, while the social-distancing measures could be partially relaxed occasionally, the “stricter” measures such as school closures and self-isolation have to be enforced for at least half a year. “It was agreed that a policy of alternating between periods of more and less strict social-distancing measures could plausibly be effective at keeping the number of critical-care cases within capacity,” said the report. “Under such as policy, at least half of the year would be spent under the stricter social-distancing measures.”