SIL positive but hasn’t been anywhere

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Could have caught it from something she touched.

I read yesterday that apparently supermarket is where lots of people are getting it now.

My guess is she got really unlucky at the supermarket. Picked up an item that was touched by someone with a strong strain of it, then maybe touched her mouth when she took off her mask, or something similar. Such bad luck. Ironically, living alone makes our immune system less resistant. I really hope she is OK.

Did she have symptoms? Was it a random test? As it could be a false positive- there's lots of cross contamination at the mega labs etc.

Quite a lot of people are asymptomatic.
It doesn't require a full 15 minutes contact to catch it, perhaps she was near someone in the supermarket who had it.
It can also be transmitted on surfaces.

So she hasn’t been anywhere except an indoor public place and seen family with school age children within the last 14 days.

You’re right OP it’s a mystery.

Of course she can catch it at a supermarket?

If children catch this they tend to be asymptomatic so I suspect that most parents don't know if/when their child catches this. If your kids go to school, they could catch it from another child without symptoms.

Could have walked past someone in the supermarket with it who had not long coughed/sneezed in the aisle.

Surely if you saw her 10 days ago then she could have caught it from one of your group who was asymptomatic? It can take that long for symptoms to show.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-supermarkets-most-common-place-23037109

Breathing in the air at the supermarket. Ventilation is not always that good, they may be recirculating air (cheaper to heat).
Could have been near someone else at any time whilst shopping.

On a walk I would see as being less likely as much more ventilation being outdoors.

Is it that unusual to catch it in a supermarket? Hundreds of different people there in any day. Young staff who would likely to be asymptomatic working on the checkout?
I hope she recovers soon and isn't feeling bad.

Tbf the supermarkets are the most common place is really crap reporting. The PHE report does not say that supermarkets are the most common place to catch it.

From your family? Maybe you were asymptomatic

And yes supermarket

If none of above had happened it would be more of a mystery

Supermarkets seem to be a common way of getting it. A friend had only been out to our local small supermarket and got it. The Track and trace person told her that supermarkets are quite common for catching it.

Lives in a flat? Spread though air between flats? Communal areas such as stairwells.
How did they get to the supermarket - transport? Own car which they filled at a petrol station recently? All sorts of things are possibilities, though many are low risk. Indoor places are more likely in my view.

It’s likely your family in that scenario surely. Kids all at school asymptomatic

You say she hasn't been anywhere or seen anyone but she has . She's been to the supermarket and been in contact with tour family. Why do you think you couldn't catch it in the supermarket?

@Peridot1 That was a misreading of the report- there's a thread on it here somewhere. It was about where people who tested positive had been, not where they caught it.

But that is not to say the OP's SIL couldn't have caught it in the supermarket or while out on one of her walks. Your title is wrong in that she has been places. She has been particularly unlucky as she sounds as if she hasn't been many places but it is possible to catch the virus that way.

Having said that, we had a case of a student who got the track and trace alert on her phone and contacted us in a panic to say she had literally been nowhere for a fortnight except once weekly face to face training with us.

Cue momentary panic from us as we have been assiduous in trying to keep that training Covid safe. Then I realized we had talked to all of the students that day and none were ill, so the alert could not have been triggered by one of them.

She got back in touch a couple of hours later to say she had forgotten that on her way back from our training she had called in at her old work for a coffee and catch up and it was one of her colleagues who had the positive test.

Later in the week in passing conversation, she mentioned her daily latte from the coffee shop below her flat - so she had been out as well as to our training - she just didn't seem to recognise or remember those outings and saw herself living a hermit's life (with a flatmate, I should add). Thankfully her isolation period is now over and she is still symptom free.

The Track and trace person told her that supermarkets are quite common for catching it

By which they mean, when they ask three positive person where they have been, a large number say "the supermarket". Well, of course they do - it's the only place anyone is going, and almost everyone goes there. It's a correlation not a causation.

How close did you all get when you visited. Indoor family gatherings have always been high risk for transmission. Perhaps some of your family are asymptomatic spreaders.

Has she definitely not met with anyone else? Even stopping for a chat or walking alongside another person chatting could cause transmission. I see a lot of people, who bump into friends when out, stop and chat for a while (undersandably) but the 2m distancing gets forgotten and they actually end up very close together.

Supermarkets transmission is also possible as everyone is obviously breathing in the same air. I think it's quite unlucky to catch it that way especially if a person is wearing a mask and being as careful as possible ie being as quick as possible, distancing etc, but it is possible as viruses are airborne.

Did you see her indoors for more than 15 minutes?

If she was prepared to meet up with you and your family, are you sure she hasn’t met up with anyone else?

I agree the headlines about supermarkets are misleading if you read the reports carefully.

One of you lot could have been a symptomatic and passed it on, that’s the most logical explanation