%0 Journal Article
%T Two Metres Apart: A Rigorous Topological and Metric Framework for Physical Distancing Policies
%A Samuel O. Adeyemo
%A Amarachukwu I. O. Ofomata
%A Prisca Duruojinkeya
%A Chinwe B. Okereke
%J Open Access Library Journal
%V 13
%N 2
%P 1-5
%@ 2333-9721
%D 2026
%I Open Access Library
%R 10.4236/oalib.1114882
%X The feasibility of physical-distancing interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic implicitly relied on structural properties of physical space. We show that minimum-distance policies (usually formulated as ¡°individuals must remain at least ¦Ä metres apart¡±) require not only the Hausdorff property but a compatible metric structure that supports uniform separation with a positive lower bound. Using results from metric topology, we prove that the existence of disjoint open neighbourhoods is necessary but insufficient for well-posed quantitative distancing constraints. We demonstrate using quo-tient and identification topologies arising in epidemiological modelling (like grid aggregation, mean-field limits) that distancing can become ill-defined even when Hausdorffness is preserved. We discuss implications for spatial epidemiology, where metric and topological assumptions are typically implicit but essential for distance-dependent transmission kernels.<br />
%K Hausdorff Space
%K Physical Distancing
%K COVID-19
%K Mathematical Epidemiology
%K Metric Topology
%K Uniform Separation
%K Quotient Topology
%U http://www.oalib.com/paper/6887280