As the first peak of the pandemic passed and governments began looking at how to return to something approaching “normality”, social distancing in public places has become ubiquitous – restaurants and bars have come up with bizarre but ingenious ways to keep customers at a safe distance from each other, supermarkets are forced to stagger the number of shoppers, leading to long lines of people down the streets, standing at least a meter apart, and spots on benches in parks and transport hubs have been taped off.