(27 May 2020, 9:36 am)Ambassador wrote Not strictly true. Where social distancing isn't possible (including the back area of some shops and food providers) as long as PPE is offered (for employees) and Customers wear a face covering the shop can trade.

The 2m rule is pretty arbitrary anyway, other countries have set theirs to 1.5m, or even 1m, so there mustn't be that much science behind it.
My guess is they went with 2m because it's a round number more than anything else, and they could roughly equate it to 6ft for the older people (who seem to ignore it anyway!)