Coronavirus could travel as far as five metres through the air, a worrying new study has revealed. Researchers said this shows the 2m social distancing rule provides a “false sense of security”.Infectious saliva droplets were detected in the air 4.8m away from hospital patients at the University of Florida Health Shands Hospital in the US.The study states: “These findings strengthen the notion that airborne transmission of Covid-19 is likely and plays a critical role in the spread.“The public health implications are broad, especially as current best practices for limiting the spread of Covid-19 centre on social distancing, wearing of face coverings while in proximity to others and hand washing.”Airborne virus expert Dr Linsey Marr, of.