Most common covid exposure settings ranked.

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news.sky.com/story/covid-19-supermarkets-most-common-exposure-setting-for-catching-coronavirus-in-england-latest-data-shows-12136418

So according to this article number 1 is supermarkets and in second and third place are secondary and primary schools. Care homes are right down the list alongside hospitals.
Care home and hospitals are where the most restrictions are currently in place. Appears to me that the more restrictions in place the less exposure.
Definitely very true in my tier 3 area (Yorkshire and Humber) which is currently the worst hit area in England.

Looking at that list makes me also think perhaps the prioritisation of vaccines needs to change. I know it’s not set in stone and data over the next few weeks will determine that priority list.

The report was taken from cases during the last week when they only places that are open is supermarkets and schools so its no surprise that they feature the highest when no one can really go anywhere else

I am sceptical.

I don't think a teen is going to admit they went to an illegal party/rave at the weekend; they would happily admit they had been at school.

Likewise the people having friends over for a dinner party; far easier to say they'd queued to do a weekly shop.

This twitter link is quite interesting on this story - twitter.com/benkentish/status/1329451376380932096?s=21

His summary - An accurate headline would’ve been: “People who test positive for Covid-19 more likely to have visited a supermarket than any other venue in past week”. Which is hardly surprising. To re-iterate, there is nothing suggesting those people were infected at the supermarket.

I think this is not the only report on this subject matter and other studies give different results. Certainly the chances of catching Covid-19 in hospital in March-May was probably the highest place, especially for staff, and the situation is still not great since the PPE is neither effective nor adequate based on the massive viral load released by a patient ill enough to require hospitalisation (as opposed to someone asymptomatic or in a domestic setting). A paper mask and a plastic pinny and some gloves are not going to stop a nurse or doctor getting infected (some places have full PPE but not all, and they are probably the exception rather than the rule).

Please read that twitter thread for explanation- it doesn't mean people caught it at the supermarket it just means people WENT to the supermarket. Of course they did, there's nowhere else to go.

@3littlewords

The report was taken from cases during the last week when they only places that are open is supermarkets and schools so its no surprise that they feature the highest when no one can really go anywhere else

Not really. If you read it you will see it says it’s based on positive cases from the 9th of November. Lockdown was the 5th. Incubation period of the virus is up to 14 days. Then it’s usually a few more days for the symptoms to kick in and then people start wondering whether they should get a test or not.

What a stupid piece of reporting from sky news 🙄

Scottish data quoted yesterday by the Scottish government was clear that schools are not the drivers of infection either.

I don't think the teens I teach have been out to illegal raves... they have been to school and sat shoulder to shoulder with each other all day at school

Also cases in secondary schools can also mean a parent who caught covid from their secondary school child. So that initial case from the child would take us a lot further back and well before lockdown.

I’m sceptical too. People will admit going to the supermarket as it’s not forbidden. They are unlikely to say they were still having guests, hosting play dates, shopping for non essentials etc.

Correlation doesn’t equal causation. This story is an obvious example of this.

It's quite obvious schools are full of COVID and are high risk environments. But no, let's desperately ignore the elephant in the room and blame teenagers for attending illegal raves instead, because that's the most likely cause of the second wave 🙄

@Blobson the data doesn’t seem to support that. Which is good news for schools 😊

[quote WouldBeGood]@Blobson the data doesn’t seem to support that. Which is good news for schools 😊[/quote]
I can smell the desperation and denial just oozing from your pores 😊

But the PHE graph showing contacts by exposure/activity (whatever that actually means) shows that the greatest risk is household followed by household visitors. Education is some way behind both of those.

@MillicentMartha

Correlation doesn’t equal causation. This story is an obvious example of this.

Yep.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: "Supermarkets are one of the very few places that people can visit during lockdown so it is unsurprising that they feature strongly when people are asked where they have visited.

She has a point. And must be rolling her eyes as far as poss.

I'm also sceptical as while some cashiers have caught the virus, we're not seeing a mass of sick checkout staff. I see the same cashiers each week.

People who test positive for Covid-19 more likely to have visited a supermarket than any other venue in past week”. Which is hardly surprising. To re-iterate, there is nothing suggesting those people were infected at the supermarket.

This. It doesn't mean they picked it up at the supermarket. A parent could have caught it from their child who'd been at school and then they visited a supermarket before they tested positive.

@waspnest cases spread from school or workplace (initial case) to rest of household (typically 2/3 more cases), so this is totally logical. Household visitors I can't explain, I don't know anyone having any.

@MarjorytheTrashHeap

People who test positive for Covid-19 more likely to have visited a supermarket than any other venue in past week”. Which is hardly surprising. To re-iterate, there is nothing suggesting those people were infected at the supermarket.

This. It doesn't mean they picked it up at the supermarket. A parent could have caught it from their child who'd been at school and then they visited a supermarket before they tested positive.

And likewise, a child getting covid could've picked it up in the supermarket rather than school. No one really knows for definite do they? Unless they only go to one place.

But I also have an aunt in her late 70s with a weakened immune system who is currently going to several supermarkets a day for a good old browse. Her friend picks her up. They are both single households who believe they can have many in their bubble as they live alone. So my aunt has had a friend round (whose wife works in a hospital and whose parents have Covid - I kid you not). She also visited a friend whose daughter was self isolating. They baked cakes together. I despair.

If my aunt caught Covid, where would she claim to have caught it?

This is why this style of report will be flawed.

There are also studies that show that the second wave in Europe can be traced to a strain of the virus that emerged during early summer and was spread by holidaymakers throughout Europe.

There are also studies linking EOTHO with the second wave in the UK.

This single report is of little value except for the short period of time that it covers.