SIL positive but hasn’t been anywhere

[Imateachergetmeoutofhere]

My sister in law tested positive for COVID yesterday but lives alone. She has only been to the supermarket and out for walks alone in the past few weeks. Trying to work out how on earth str could have caught it! We did see her about ten days ago but we are a family of five and none of us have had any symptoms. We have also been in school/seen other family members who are older and none of them have symptoms. I would have thought if it was us, someone somewhere would have had symptoms from our wider circle. How on earth could she have caught it at a supermarket or on a walk?

I read somewhere you can catch if from sewers.

@Keepdistance

2. Meeting others safely In general, you must not meet with another person socially or undertake any activities with another person. However, you can exercise or meet in a public, outdoors space with people you live with, your support bubble (or as part of a childcare bubble), or with one other person.

You should minimise time spent outside your home. When around other people, stay 2 metres apart from anyone not in your household - meaning the people you live with - or your support bubble. Where this is not possible, stay 1 metre apart with extra precautions (e.g. wearing a face covering).

You must not meet socially indoors with family or friends unless they are part of your household or support bubble.

A support bubble is where a household with one adult joins with another household. Households in that support bubble can still visit each other, stay overnight in each other’s households, and visit outdoor public places together.

You can exercise or visit a public outdoor space:

by yourself
with the people you live with
with your support bubble
or, when on your own, 1 person from another household
Children under 5, and up to two carers for a person with a disability who needs continuous care, are not counted towards the outdoors gatherings limit.

There is further guidance on what exercise and other physical activity can continue during the period of national restrictions.

Public outdoor places include:

neighbourhood streets, parks, beaches, and the countryside
public gardens and grounds (whether or not you pay to enter them)
allotments
outdoor playgrounds
You cannot meet people in a private garden, unless you live with them or have formed a support bubble with them.

Im not sure re support bubble as it says 1 adult with one other adult (with kids) but maybe at some point it included couples??

But anyway by the details you are saying and not calling it your support bubble then it looks like you shouldnt have been meeting indoors during lockdown in england.

Though i get what you are saying that your family has so much contact and yet havent had it /no symptoms and yet someone has caught it with so little contact.

One school found about 30 asymptomatic kids. And also they have d&v or other non 3main symptoms sore throat or headache. Have the kids been ill at all?

Not ill at all.

We are in a allowed support bubble. SIL lives on her own and therefore is allowed to join our family as a bubble. Test and trace said no need to isolate as not seen her within 48 hours of contact, but we are isolating anyway.

@Teateaandmoretea

I read somewhere you can catch if from sewers.

I expect you can if you go down them. Try and avoid them if possible.

@Angrymum22

Wouldn’t be surprised if she caught it in a supermarket. For the last couple of months I seem to be the only one sanitising the shopping trolley handle and using handheld. Personally I believe that mask wearing has had the opposite effect to what it was intended to do. Although Covid is a droplet infection most people will have caught it by touching a contaminated set face then touching their face. I have yet to see a member of the public who doesn’t constantly mess with their mask. Face visors may well be more effective because they are less likely to irritate your face or need adjustment and they are a physical barrier stopping you touch your face.

Wrong on all counts. People are getting better with masks with practice - and if they're touching their mask they're not touching their face.

Most people do not catch covid from surfaces.

Face visors are not effective except against sudden spray

And to your further post, mask wearing was mandated as lockdown was eased - the increased mixing of people - in restaurants, shops, cinemas, schools - is what causes increased infection rates, not the protective face coverings that studies have shown to work.

[quote BetterCare]2 in 10 people are catching Covid from Supermarkets it is one of the more common places for people to catch it.

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/supermarket-shopper-rules-asda-tesco-19311883[/quote]
That means 80 % of people catch it somewhere else.
I don't think 20% is a high number.

And a lot depends on the supermarket.

In Waitrose, they sanitise every trolley after use- they collect it from you.
They still limit numbers so the store is quiet.
They have a marshall on the door to enforce masks and numbers.

Obviously this is no guarantee but it's very different from what I've read and been told about other supermarkets.

Face visors may well be more effective because they are less likely to irritate your face or need adjustment and they are a physical barrier stopping you touch your face.

Visors have been proved by research to be less effective so please don't just come along with an opinion and imply it's a fact.

A visor does not stop the virus because it's open at the lower edge. They are only supposed to be used in addition to a mask or if someone cannot use a mask for medical reasons.

Obviously the supermarket 🤪

Sorry that should be a quote

Face visors may well be more effective because they are less likely to irritate your face or need adjustment and they are a physical barrier stopping you touch your face

No, they aren't more effective.

I tested on Tuesday but I had a headache and aches since last week but didn’t test as they are not the symptoms mentioned. Felt really ill Monday night and on Tuesday woke with a cough, hence got tested. I’ve actually felt better since apart from a cough, slightly wheezy and a heavy feeling in chest when I cough.

Hope your sil gets better soon, it’s not a nice illness but even worse if you’re alone. I feel lucky to have dh and the kids round me. Taking eucalyptus steam a few times a day is said to help to clear chest.

Although I wouldn’t go so far as disagree with mask wearing, I do believe it has made people far more careless with social distancing, etc. It was something I noticed straight away when it became compulsory - before masks, everyone was keeping their distance, but with masks people seem not to care. Mind you this could just be complacency and might have happened eventually without masks too. I also find that I’m frequently adjusting my mask when my glasses steam up, when it rides up a bit and gets too close to my eyes, etc, whereas without a mask I found it easier not to touch my face, etc. I do, of course, realise the point of masks is to protect others not me.

@Teateaandmoretea

I read somewhere you can catch if from sewers.

Shit! That’s my weekend ruined.

@RafaIsTheKingOfClay

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.

😂 what I came on to say

@RafaIsTheKingOfClay

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.

...yep, even Sherlock would struggle with this one.

@Imateachergetmeoutofhere

Thank you for your replies. The only other place I wondered is in the communal hallways of her flat. Again, unlikely but possible I suppose

I was in a zoom meeting this week with someone whose husband is just recovering from covid - the ONLY place they had been were the communal areas of their apartment block to take out rubbish and collect post / deliveries. Neither of them had been outside of the building for weeks or seen anyone else. Both retired.

She told us all to be extra cautious with touching any surface as that was the only way her dh could have caught it.

interestingly she doesn't appear to have caught it.

@Teateaandmoretea

I read somewhere you can catch if from sewers.

Ha Luckily she's not a ninja turtle then

Well of course people are going to tell track and trace they’ve been to the supermarket. They aren’t going to be telling them about the illegal house parties they attended or the extra-marital fun they’ve been having!

The virus survives for days on door handles and railings etc . If there are communal areas it could have been that . Also on freezer packaging .

All of us are only minimising risk not eliminating it .

I would say most likely from one of your family who were asymptomatic. You shouldn’t feel bad about it though as you couldn’t have possibly known. Hope she feels better soon

I reckon this is a case for Shaggs and Scooby.

Most people don’t have symptoms

‘ I still maintain it’s unlikely that out of two adults and three children, that none of us would have had symptoms.’

Why? What makes you different from everyone else who gets it without symptoms? I genuinely don’t understand your reasoning!
If anything, since you and your kids are related and probably have a lot in common in both lifestyle, genetics and previous sharing of germs, it seems unsurprising that your bodies might all react to covid in the same way. Perhaps you all had a cold last year that gave you all partial covid immunity, or something?

I had CV quite badly in March, recovered fully, and did become very complacent with my health for a while afterwards, believing I was immune. I wonder if this is a factor, people who have had the virus not being as careful anymore as they think 'been there, done that, got the t-shirt'.

People saying as it’s a support bubble that OP should be isolating too are wrong.

Your support bubble only needs to isolate if you have been in contact with them in the previous 48 hours before symptoms starting, same as anyone else you’ve been in contact with as per Test and Trace guidance.

er - supermarkets - and schools, are the most likely places to get it

This is one of the issues, though isn’t it?

People think being ‘very careful’ consists of trips out shopping and being part of a bubble with a family of 5. Said bubble has DC attending school and parents that work outside the home. And they see these people inside. Without masks. And are then genuinely ‘surprised’ when they contract COVID.

Sorry OP. I do sympathise but I think this just highlights the perception of being ‘careful’ versus the reality.