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Original poster

When people say they have no idea how they got it...

202 replies

Partedinsurprise · 29/01/2021 22:09

I see this all the time on MN as well as on social media - people saying they have no idea how they could possibly have got covid because they haven't been anywhere or seen anyone. Then it turns out they have been to the supermarket/post office/for a hospital appointment/live with someone who works outside the home etc etc. Are people who genuinely haven't left the house other than for walks outside when they are socially distanced from others really testing positive? Or do people think "I haven't been anywhere or seen anyone" doesn't include the supermarket and so on?

BTW this is not me criticising anyone for going going the supermarket or whatever, I'm just struggling to comprehend the sheer number of people who are adamant they've caught it despite not leaving the house. I think I keep as safe as I can - I get all my food shopping delivered, I live in a busy area so I tend to wear a mask when outside, both DH and I wfh and our DS is not at school. However if I caught it I don't think I would be baffled - I was in the chemist the other day picking up some antibiotics, sometimes it is impossible for me to stay 2m away from people outside unless I walk into traffic...and so on.

I'm just wondering which it is: are people genuinely getting it when they haven't left the house and have only been for walks when they were SD the entire time, OR are people genuinely surprised they are getting it despite supermarket trips and so on because they think if masked and distanced you can't catch it?

OP posts:
JanuaryJonez · 30/01/2021 01:05

This is interesting as I live in a big city. Most of my friends are very sociable and have found it hard in LD5. Yet none of them, or their extended social group, have or have had, covid.

Heartofglass12345 · 30/01/2021 01:06

Actually I tell a lie. Wales has been in lockdown since December, and up until last week we were really busy because people had been mixing with 1 or more households, especially over Christmas, when the rules are no mixing at the moment. So people were catching it then taking it back to their own houses.

Inkpaperstars · 30/01/2021 01:11

I wouldn’t bemused if I caught it despite not going anywhere much because being in an urban area walking outside even at quieter times of day is crowded. I am near some nice green spaces but that brings the crowds. Otherwise I would assume that I had been unlucky with surface transmission.

I do have to visit hospital regularly and if I got symptoms within a week or two of that I would assume there of course.

I actually think I have already had it once in the first wave but before testing for the public. If so, pretty sure I know exactly how and where I got it...in a clinic where I had several appointments at close quarters in small totally unventilated rooms with staff who I know tested positive shortly after. So for every case of seemingly unlikely transmission I bet there are a fair few where it’s pretty obvious.

tumpymummy · 30/01/2021 01:15

On the other side of the coin i don't know how I didn't catch it! I worked in a room with my colleague for 2 days before she realised she had it. She had headache and earache but nothing else. I isolated for 2 weeks but didn't have any symptoms and tested negative twice.

Inkpaperstars · 30/01/2021 01:16

Also OP, I just wanted to say, don’t worry about not attempting to disinfect things if that is triggering for you. I agree there is some risk from fomite transmission but I have had very bad ocd too and you have to balance your risk. For you, the risk of catching it from a surface and then in addition having a severe case is probably vastly lower than the risk of becoming ill again with ocd. The latter is probably both more likely to happen and to have a long term effect. I am heavily medicated Grin and able to do a bit of cleaning without triggering but if I was finding it triggering, I would probably make the same assessment as you.

screamingchild · 30/01/2021 01:18

I have two friends who caught it from their child who got it from nursery and the other person from their job in a nursery.

I got it from primary school- a
girl in my class.

trulydelicious · 30/01/2021 06:47

In my opinion, if someone is being as careful as you are, the risk of contagion should be minimal

The problem is that people think it's sufficient with the measures they take but obviourly isn't - e.g. the risk of getting it from surfaces such as shopping or post may be low but still there, hence best to wipe it down or quarantine it if you absolutely want to avoid catching it. Same with open air playgrounds, joggers puffing near you, delivery drivers coming into your home, etc.

trulydelicious · 30/01/2021 06:50

But I agree with @Inkpaperstars also

trulydelicious · 30/01/2021 07:14

@LadyStarlight

we only go out to walk the dogs. But here we are with positive results

Could it be the dogs getting close to another dog of someone infected, getting it on their fur and you petting your dog afterwards? Again, probably low risk but a possibility?

MsTSwift · 30/01/2021 07:18

And yet family member a doctor on the Covid wards since March has never got it! Shows how effective proper PPE is I guess

davidsSchitt · 30/01/2021 07:19

Doubt it is the dogs...it's quite obviously from wandering around a big building with poorly circulated air whilst doing her shopping.

Just 20 minutes once a fortnight is pretty speedy too for all the shopping you must need and you say "we" suggesting more than one are entering the supermarket. This increases risk again.

So many people are saying they "don't go anywhere" - then they nip to the shops for a loaf or whatever. It's such a minor part of the day they think it doesn't count. But it does.

midnightstar66 · 30/01/2021 07:31

Yes a friend of mine. He did nothing but walk the dog masked in a quiet area with massive distance kept. He caught it a week in to January and DC's school had been closed since mid December as one of the few who had closed early. Wife had been to a shop once, twice at the most in that mid dec to positive test time frame at a quiet time taking all the precautions but did not have any symptoms and tested at the same time as a precaution as she was planning to do a care visits to an ECV relative in the next few days - she was negative. I guess the shop trip is the culprit but thats a pretty unlucky situation.

davidsSchitt · 30/01/2021 07:39

Well they went to the shops. So it's probably that, during the time that infections were extremely high. I'm assuming they spent Christmas alone and didn't pop in and out of relatives homes with Christmas gifts?

My family member will tell you they've not been anywhere or seen anyone.

In reality they've been shopping (more than they think - the post office and Argos both got omitted. They don't count, it was only 5 minutes Hmm).

They've been to the chemist within the doctors surgery.

They went into the garage with the car due it's MOT (oh it's all open air, practically outside really). Not sure if they sanitised or had the windows of said car down on the way home but there you go.

QueenStromba · 30/01/2021 07:47

It's possible to get a lungful of someone's exhalate even from a large distance away. I wear N95s outside since a couple of months ago when I got a lungful of someone's cigarette from 10-15 meters away - the wind just happened to be blowing the right way.

Justcurious93 · 30/01/2021 07:52

There does seem to be an element of randomness to it. I'm very cautious outside of work but I've worked in a hospital (patient facing) throughout, do my weekly shop etc and so far havent tester positive and then I hear of others shielding who manage to pick it up. It's possible I've been asymptomatic but I lateral flow test everyday and my antibody test was clear.

trulydelicious · 30/01/2021 07:57

@QueenStromba

It's possible to get a lungful of someone's exhalate even from a large distance away

Yes, it's important to try to social distance even when outside

Dreamylemon · 30/01/2021 08:07

I agree there are lots if stories of 'we don't go out' but the child goes to school etc

I do think there is huge variability though. I work as a frontline NHS HCP and have definitely been exposed- particularly in the early days, continued to use supermarkets ( at quieter times) and have gone out with the kids when permitted.

None of us have had it- yet. I've assumed it's inevitable we will catch it eventually. I have had my first covid vaccine so I'm hoping in saved from a severe case if I do get it.

ReluctantHomeschooler · 30/01/2021 08:13

@Dreamylemon how effective do you think the masks are? I am very curious.

yearinyearout · 30/01/2021 08:16

Someone I know got it last week. Posted on fb how he could only have got it in tesco as he hasn't been anywhere else...only he is a tradesman who goes in and out of different houses each day and is still working!

Someone else told me the same, must have been tesco as they don't go anywhere else, but her daughter sees her boyfriend, who lives with his family...who may see god knows who!

yearinyearout · 30/01/2021 08:18

It's possible to get a lungful of someone's exhalate even from a large distance away.

You wouldn't get a lungful though, it's diluted massively once it's exhaled into the air. And comparing it to cigarette smoke doesn't work, it's just not the same thing.

Lanzo · 30/01/2021 08:23

Maybe someone else in the family did something like popping into a shop for a chocolate bar but didn’t mention it.

Oblomov20 · 30/01/2021 08:26

I too wonder how these people don't know.
I'm sure there are a few exceptions though.
To me it's normally obvious. People claim they haven't been out. Then admit they have.

MedSchoolRat · 30/01/2021 08:27

I just don't think people realise how easily it spreads indoors

I think the opposite, people don't realise how easily it doesn't spread indoors. The secondary attack rate within households with a symptomatic case is < 25% (JAMA review).

People's memories are terrible, imho. They literally don't remember the social contact they had or dismiss it mentally as not relevant. My neighbour will say how careful he is, no one has visited, but he does have at occasional (at least once every few months) mask-free lingering indoor guest(s) for at least 10 minutes, poor ventilation rooms.

My cousin started with "Baffled how I got covid!" then eventually said "I suppose my son who lives with me does work in a cramped take-away sandwich shop"

Transmission via surfaces probably ≤ 5% of all adult infections.

Kazzyhoward · 30/01/2021 08:29

@yearinyearout

Someone I know got it last week. Posted on fb how he could only have got it in tesco as he hasn't been anywhere else...only he is a tradesman who goes in and out of different houses each day and is still working!

Someone else told me the same, must have been tesco as they don't go anywhere else, but her daughter sees her boyfriend, who lives with his family...who may see god knows who!

Same with people I know. They just don't understand chains of infection and are in denial about just how many "contact points" they've had when you factor in those in their household and what they've been doing. They seem to think that covid knows some points in the chain are exempt, i.e. at work, shopping, their bubble, etc., so those links don't count.
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