How are people still catching the virus?

[Baileysforchristmas]

Numbers are still so high, are people catching it from supermarkets? Does 2 metres apart still stop you catching it? Are you still pretty safe outside if you stay at least 2 metres apart?

People are still going out but you have to remember there is a period of time between exposure to coronavirus and passing it on. Lots of people were exposed through the Christmas and new year period (as they broke the rules and had more than the allowed household round) so we are only seeing the effects now, if the lockdown worked (people stayed in) then the cases will fall. As no one seems to listen anymore and suddenly everyone is a key worker, the cases are so high as people are mixing. One of my colleagues husband works in a jewellery shop and got a key worker letter to send their kids to school!

@benedicto I said I had looked on their site and couldn't find it
I don't always believe articles as they sometimes only wrote selected bits.
Although I think xmas mixing will take a part I think it is too easy to just blame it on that. Too many people are having to go into work and shops etc are busy and numbers were high from schools before.
Quite a few on here have not mixed and have followed rules but still caught it , some not actually been out so I think some of the measures are maybe not so good against this new variant.
In my house me and dh are at risk from work , dh works with members of public and has to go in their homes as part of his job, he wears ppe but they don't.
I work in a office in temp job which could be done from home but yesterday 6 of us in , yes we are 2 m apart and have screens but we breath the same air.
I just think so many places are called covid safe and thats a wrong term to use.
So many more people and cars around compared to march

[quote Gwenhwyfar]"@Gwenhwyfar dont be so ridiculous!!! stores cannot enforce mask wearing!! we would be contravening disability rights straightaway!!"

Stores in Belgium enforce mask wearing. I've been to a few small shops where there are people with masks under the nose etc. but in the big supermarkets you wear a mask or you don't come in. Not seen anyone without a mask.[/quote]
well we aren't in Belgium

and track and trace!! but doesn't change the fact people are coming out to browse ....oh,and bringing kids now they are off school

@Swishswish26
In London and other tier 4 areas they did. Here they only closed following the latest lockdown (so the kids stopped going in Wednesday) we can still blame the schools. The whole country isn't London.

@ouchmyfeet secondaries have only been shut 3 weeks not 4 , so still within time frame to of caught from school, then pAss on to family members

I would imagine a lot of the rising infection rates and hospital admisions are as a result of all the Xmas socialising that people did. It can take up to13 days or so for the infection to emerge and then another week or even weeks, to deteriorate to the point that hospital admission is required.
I'm expecting the rates to get higher in the coming weeks, especially as so many are either ignoring this lockdown, or have no choice but to go into work.

I guess you could have a ward for people who are waiting but that would still allow the positives to spread to the negatives. Ideally youd have isolation cubicles but you'd need dozens and hospitals dont have them in those numbers.

With all the face touching going on - i understand that - i think they might be doing more harm than good.

Fomite transmission has been shown to be very low. By far the biggest risk is aerosol so regardless of how much you touch your mask, having it will always be better than not.

In our arrogance we think we can out-smart millions of years of evolution.

We can’t.

@felicitywishdoll

Some workplaces, I noticed when getting a drive-thru at McDonald’s the staff are all working quite close together, if you think how many branches of McDs are operating across the UK each with dozens of staff members. Ditto Dominos Pizza, you can see them working through the window in my town and the kitchen area is cramped with them all squished in together.

Can't vouch for all McDonald's, but the ones where I am have screens between each worker and they are not allowed to leave their station etc

1..government say face coverings are mandatory in retail
2..straightaway go's say they will NOT be issuing any exempt cards or proof for the mask exempt
3..The police immediately say they will not be coming into stores enforcing mask wearing
4..retail staff are told they cannot challenge anyone with out a mask

guess whats happening in stores?

@Charteta

I'm on a final day of isolation and the only place I'd been on the day I was exposed was a supermarket.

Did you actually catch it though? Or are you just isolating?

*gp"s

"Fomite transmission has been shown to be very low. By far the biggest risk is aerosol so regardless of how much you touch your mask, having it will always be better than not."

Interesting to know, thank you. Improper use and the possibility of people putting the mask in their pocket, etc. was the reason the Welsh Government gave for not encouraging masks at the beginning.
I see so many people having to touch their mask to keep it on properly so it's good to know this doesn't do more harm than good.

i work in a supermarket ,we can have 1500 customers in before we exceed capacity ,and that does not include staff , we dont often get to that but i still think we have too many in ,no mask wearing eating /drinking as they go round ,no social distancing despite our efforts ,so i can totally see how its spread /caught in a supermarket

Im anxious about an opticians appointment. Need to take child in a couple of weeks. Her glasses are held together by tape at the moment or I'd delay it.

Here we hardly had any cases... Now we have almost 5000 per 100,000
The new strain is so much more transferable and people have given up caring

Of the people I know who have caught it lately it has either been off older teen or adult DC who have been out partying, or meeting up,

Same here, all the families I know with it at the moment have late teen/early 20s dc who went and met up with friends over xmas (stupidly, several of the pubs were allowing groups of friends inside during the week leading up to Christmas). Quite honestly if one of my two had gone out with their mates I wouldn't have let the buggers back in.

Schools.

@chubbycheese how risky do you think the dentist is at present? I have an appointment next week to repair a cracked tooth that isn’t currently causing me any issues but obviously there is a risk of infection etc if I leave it. I’m really worried about going and am trying to weigh up the risk and decide what to do. I figure the risk is high if the dentist, dental nurse or a previous patient have it and so many people are currently carrying it. Are you aware of many cases stemming from dental appointments? I can’t understand anyone wanting to book in for a check up at present!!

@BridgertonBride

1..government say face coverings are mandatory in retail 2..straightaway go's say they will NOT be issuing any exempt cards or proof for the mask exempt 3..The police immediately say they will not be coming into stores enforcing mask wearing 4..retail staff are told they cannot challenge anyone with out a mask

guess whats happening in stores?

Yes, well, you should campaign for that to change. Where I am it's enforced, at least in all the big name shops.

@Baileysforchristmas

I thought all schools are closed accept for key workers?

I am a TA. I am supervising 20 in my class and I have 4 more coming next week. Many with a parent at home and many for whom the key worker link is very tenuous.

I am very happy to supervise vulnerable children and those with front line parents who work outside of the home.
Some parents though are taking advantage. I have no idea why as they are all doing the same online work and the ones in school are in class of 20, mixed year groups and I am spending most of my time managing behaviour.

Data from December suggests around 1 in 5 people in hospital who have Covid caught it in the hospital. www.hsj.co.uk/patient-safety/covid-infections-caught-in-hospital-rise-by-a-third-in-one-week/7029211.article

People can’t social distance in a lot of workplaces, including care homes. Lots of kids are still in school. People who caught it at a Christmas or New Years (whether legal or not) or while their area was still in tier 1/2.

And then once one person has it, they can pass it on to their household, even if their household haven’t gone outside.

@Gwenhwyfar if you look on the NHS app under manage my data it tells you what day you were exposed. And the only place I'd been that day was Sainsburys
And yep, live alone

@Freaksandgeeks no symptoms so as far as I know I don't have it - but like they say 1 in 3 people are asymptomatic