Are supermarkets the problem?

[Thatwentbadly]

Are supermarkets really such a big problem or could it be people who haven’t been following the guidelines who then say I’ve only been to the supermarket who are increasing the number of cases thought to have been caused in the supermarket?

It's just beyond disgusting that supermarket workers are expected to continue as normal bar plastic screens. I think click and collect needs to be ramped up substantially.

There's been a significant outbreak at my local 'big' Tesco. People are complaining about the staff not social distancing etc. especially the online order pickers. The pickers at Tesco work from 6am until the orders are finished, usually by around 1pm. Of course there are customers and lots of other online pickers vying for position. The pickers unfortunately don't have the luxury of hanging back to wait for an aisle to clear, because they are given a 'pick rate' (recently increased to allow for elevated number of orders in same time frame) which is monitored, and to which they must adhere, on pain of reprimand.

Another local supermarket does all the picking overnight before the store opens. (Presumably that doesn't work logistically for all stores.) That same supermarket also has in-store testing for staff. Might be an idea for other large stores to follow.

Jakey so why does anybody have to bother to isolate for 7/10 days then if that's the case?

When my son had Covid he couldn't just go out a couple of days after symptoms.
My aunt's first symptoms were only this week. She's out and about again a few days later.

@HunkyPunk

There's been a significant outbreak at my local 'big' Tesco. People are complaining about the staff not social distancing etc. especially the online order pickers. The pickers at Tesco work from 6am until the orders are finished, usually by around 1pm. Of course there are customers and lots of other online pickers vying for position. The pickers unfortunately don't have the luxury of hanging back to wait for an aisle to clear, because they are given a 'pick rate' (recently increased to allow for elevated number of orders in same time frame) which is monitored, and to which they must adhere, on pain of reprimand.

Another local supermarket does all the picking overnight before the store opens. (Presumably that doesn't work logistically for all stores.) That same supermarket also has in-store testing for staff. Might be an idea for other large stores to follow.

What supermarket does in store testing for staff, that sounds very good?

Don't know if it's nationwide, but my local Waitrose (it would be, wouldn't it ). A friend works there.

Just to add, They're the quick 'lateral flow test' ones.

Sorry for the sporadic posting. I wish there was an 'edit' function!
I assume it's been introduced for similar reasons to the proposal of mass testing for schools, to try and cut down the number of staff who need to isolate, if someone tests positive.

@HunkyPunk

Sorry for the sporadic posting. I wish there was an 'edit' function! I assume it's been introduced for similar reasons to the proposal of mass testing for schools, to try and cut down the number of staff who need to isolate, if someone tests positive.

Just to clarify, pupils don't have to self isolate either. I will be supervising a class of close contacts this week with just a paper mask that I provide myself and wear out of personal choice.

I'm surprised waitrose are using those test, I've read they aren't very often correct . So they may have staff coming into work who should actually be at home. Doesn't fill me with confidence.

How does your friend feel about it @HunkyPunk?

Yes, sorry Salty, the 'staff' I was referring to were those in supermarkets. Of course in schools it's for pupils and staff.

My friend seems quite happy with it, ssd. I don't know the minutiae of who has the tests and when, but she presented it to me as a positive (no pun intended!) thing, and indicated that she was able to get tested a couple of times a week, and she only works part-time, so I don't think it's just used when there are outbreaks. In fact, when I asked her, she didn't know of any colleagues who had had CV. Not to say there haven't been any, of course.

That sounds really good actually.

Yeah I think LFTs to get an idea of whether or not someone might have Covid is a good thing, but never in place of self-isolation.