Why are the supermarket workers not getting sick?

[bulletjournalbilly]

So tell me this ...if supermarkets are a "danger zone" why aren't the supermarket workers all dying and getting sick with this "killer virus"?

The truth is this virus is predominantly killing the elderly & those with health conditions. Hence outbreaks in care homes.

The vast majority of the population will not die from Covid. That includes teachers & supermarket workers. I’m not sure why people cannot work this out from the world wide statistics?!

Why are people posting anecdotal stuff? The deaths by profession are posted by the ons as a pp said.

It’s caring professions who have the bigger risk.

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/causesofdeath/bulletins/coronaviruscovid19relateddeathsbyoccupationenglandandwales/deathsregistereduptoandincluding20april2020

Supermarkets are large and airy ,with high ceilings and fairly good Air Con though .Also most people would possibly only go to a shop worker with a query ,which would take a few minutes to deal with .Minimal Contact .Compared to Teachers ,30 kids plus Teacher/TA in a small stuffy classroom ,having to deal with childrens problems .check work and so on .

@IndiaMay. That's why they measure 'excess deaths'. We won't know what that is to any level of accuracy for about a year From June (to allow for the deaths of people who would have died in this coming year anyway, but that Covid has 'sped up'

This is just a headline, but you can look at the actual details on the ONS website

The number of excess deaths registered in the UK during the Covid-19 outbreak has risen to just under 55,000, according to official figures

I haven’t looked for a few days, but about two weeks ago it was appro 150 people below sixty five with no under lying health conditions

Not true.

4419 deaths under 65 in E&W.

Around 14% with no underlying conditions

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsinvolvingcovid19englandandwales/deathsoccurringinapril2020#pre-existing-conditions-of-people-who-died-with-covid-19

Covid-19 death is predicted mostly by age.

I agree with you OP. Of course supermarket workers have caught it, and sadly died but in my 4 local supermarkets and 2 pharmacies my casual conversational survey has established that none of their workers have caught it. It seemed particularly risky in the beginning before the social distancing measures and perspex were implemented which is why I was surprised.

The risks of infection are low and theriskof dying is infinitesimal for the fit and healthy

We don't actually know this yet. One of the issues which has struck me during this is the number of our staff who whilst superficially recovering have been left with lengthy recovery periods and breathing difficulties many weeks after they have officially overcome CV.

This is a population who are predominantly fit, healthy, biased to younger demographic, affluent, highly resiliant and motivated. Normal "flu" would scarcely touch them. There are also increasing reports of stroke and clots in younger people in the weeks after superficial recovery.

None of these people will appear in any statistics as they were not tested.

The reality is we don't know the longer term effects on people yet and probably won't do for many months. In which case it makes sense for anyone who can work remotely to continue to do so and prioritise transport and safety kit for those who cannot work remotely.

It also makes it reasonable for people to want properly planned returns with safety measures in place rather than random change-the-rules-hourly dictats from government more designed for headlines than people trying to work.

That is a very interesting question.

I work in retail. Not a supermarket, but similar very close contact with customers and even more so with fellow workers. Cramped hot conditions often. Prime virus spreading territory.

Back early December we all got a terrible "cold" unlike any cold we have ever had before. Spread through us all. For me it lasted 6 weeks.. You would think it was going then wham you would be back to square one, feeling awful, coughing, loss of smell and taste etc. My chest is still not right now as a consequence.

Of course nothing was really thought of it at the time, and everyone recovered (though there are a few like me who are still coughing even now.)

My point with all this is, what if we did all have it (and much earlier than its claimed it was about) but just didn't know? It could be that the same has happened in supermarkets, which makes it look like supermarket workers are not catching it now, when they have actually had it.

Excess deaths are nor just Covid though, we all know many peoooe are dying due to lock down. From mental health issues, lack of care availability for substance and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, and not seeking medical help for other illnesses.

How many excess deaths directly because of Covid, we won’t know until we see the full year, because yes sadly many Sick or elderly people have died who would likely have died this year.

Because the risk of dying from covid for the working age is very very small and out of all proportion to the fear. 90% of deaths are in the over 70s and this proportion is rising as most infections are now in care homes. It is sad that people in care homes are dying without their families by them but that gives no indication whatsoever of the risk to the general population.

I live in London where I can name about 20 neighbours and work colleagues who have had it, none seriously. It makes me much more relaxed about the risk. But I also know of redundancies being planned and my children are not being educated, young people with job offers withdrawn and paying tuition fees to sit at home when they have zero risk from the virus and my dad can’t get a hip replacement and I do wonder whether the balance is right. Especially as the country is looking like it’s going on one massive holiday but is too frightened to work.

Because it isn't a "killer virus". Ebola is a killer virus. Marburg is a killer virus. HIV is still a killer virus. But coronary is not a killer virus. The majority of people who get it don't die and don't even come close to dying. A very few apparently healthy people may die from a serious case of it. Vulnerable and elderly people may die if they catch it, but still, most don't. And supermarket workers can catch it just like everyone rise, but there's no reason they should die from it. Just more scaremongering suggesting otherwise.

They are.

29 bus drivers have died. Reportedly massively in the media.

65 education staff died. I saw one report about a HT that died at the beginning of lockdown. Media aren't reporting.

Media aren't reporting supermarket workers. They will be catching it and I'm sure many have sadly lost their lives. But if it's not reported by the media then much isn't known.
I would actually suspect more supermarket workers have died than education and transport staff. They have been amazing throughout working stupid hours with panic buying and taking on extra cleaning duties whilst I've been impressed with how supermarkets have had screen erected etc.
But I also think supermarkets have been excellent in managing staffing. I've seen in my local ones that older staff are working the quieter hours out front and then doing more of the stockroom work and/or the lottery counter, clothing and customer service desk where contact with people is much less - and it's mainly the younger staff shelf stacking and middle age staff on tills (where they get protection of screens) . It's either a massive co incidence or very well thought out with regards risk factors.

They are, one person who works in my local Morrison’s tested positive. They staff who worked alongside them have been told to self isolate/test if needed and the whole team told to get a test if they experience any symptoms.

But the risk of it being deadly to anyone below sixty five without health conditions is incredibly small. Do you hide in your home due to the flu?
That's a stupid comparison. Flu has been around for years and there's vaccines. Plus, if I had close family that could die from the flu, you better believe I'd be very careful to avoid the flu in flu season. Covid may not kill me, but it may kill who i pass it too, or it may kill the relative of someone I passed it too.

And how do you accidentally pass it on if you socially distance? You don’t.
That's the point, well spotted... Hope that's a small epiphany for you whilst everyone's rushing to lift lockdown and force kids back to school so they can earn their Starbucks latte money. 👍

Why are people posting anecdotal stuff?

The ONS data is important but I do think that anecdotal stuff is important to a degree in this context.

Track and trace is based on knowing the movements and contact points that people have had with others to identify where people have both contracted the disease and where they might have passed it on.

It's therefore highly relevant for understanding how the virus spreads and preventing its further spread.

This is done primarily via interviewing people known to have it. It's been stated that any app we may have will not be a substitute for traditional interview track and trace methods.

It's a question of using observational information, collating it and then building a picture of what's happening to see if there are transmissions occurring in places like supermarkets. I do think with lockdown you can start to do this based on the balance of probability.

The OP said that supermarket workers were not being infected. Anecdotes (which have information which would be used by trace and track) and bigger data show this not to be the case and say that supermarket workers are being infected. The question then is about the degree of risk this poses and how do you mitigate that.

A very few apparently healthy people may die from a serious case of it

This is true, it appears viral load is the key here. For the very very small amount of people under sixty five who are healthy who it is fatal for its due to a high viral load, Ie they got so much of the virus, their bodies couldn’t cope. So they were close to someone or many people who were contagious for a prolonged period.

But if it's not reported by the media then much isn't known

It is known, it is not being reported because there is nothing to report. You personally not knowing doesn’t mean the data isn’t published and that everyone else doesn’t know.

90% of deaths are in the over 70s

This is not true.

Why do people throw out numbers that are false? It's not hard to post the correct number. It's around 83%, probably to end up at 85%. That is not 90%.

Who said they're not getting it?
Ask the companies how many absences they have.

This is true, it appears viral load is the key here. For the very very small amount of people under sixty five who are healthy who it is fatal for its due to a high viral load, Ie they got so much of the virus, their bodies couldn’t cope. So they were close to someone or many people who were contagious for a prolonged period.

You made all of this up.

Please stop.

It is known, it is not being reported because there is nothing to report. You personally not knowing doesn’t mean the data isn’t published and that everyone else doesn’t know.

Lol.

Maybe they are. They're not publishing job roles of all people who died, are they?

One of our local small supermarket staff is currently in hospital with the virus - it’s very much a community around here and we are all hoping he is going to be okay. I know several local schools who have had staff diagnosed with it but in my school none of us has even had symptoms.....

I’m so fed up with people talking about it ‘only‘ being people who are vulnerable, terminally ill, chronically ill, disabled, etc, as if it’s no big deal. Even if someone only has six months to live, why should they have that life taken from them because some selfish git thinks it’s no big deal? It says a lot about a person, when they think we’re over reacting, because it’s ‘only the vulnerable’, instead of thinking, “if I catch this virus, I’ll be ok, but I might pass it on to a vulnerable person and they may die”

If you can’t be arsed taking precautions, or you think we’re all overreacting because you don’t care if others die as a result, just have the ovaries to say it, instead of making excuses.

A couple of my colleagues have tested positive with it. One would have required the store to temporarily close because she handles food directly and they would have to deep clean her department. But as she had a few days off before her test confirmed it, they didn't.

The other was very poorly, but has come back to work because she feels she has too.

No one that works closely with these two were advised to get tested. I suspect there's a lot of colleagues who are asymptomatic.

If you did get a test you were expected to come to work while you waited for the results unless you were actually feeling unwell.

As mentioned above, lots of us had a dreadful 'chest infection' in January. I suspect it was the virus and that we have been spreading it far and wide for months.

A few took two weeks off when they or a family member had symptoms - they are now on the shit list for this.

We provide all our own gloves btw, so most of us have run out now and don't use them.

I live in an area that has a low cv death rate but I don't know anyone outside of work who has contracted it, only at work.

I can't even think of anyone I know that thinks they might have had it. Again, only people at work.

Even a friend who manages a care home says they've got zero cases.

So there you go, a snap shot at least.

Shoots, I didn’t make it up. The data is out there just look.

I’m not sure what’s driving your posts, but the data is out there. Try to calm yourself down and read them,

Two people have died from my local Asda. One person very ill.