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

[Partedinsurprise]

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?

@reluctantHomeschooler the standard surgical masks worn in the NHS? Probably not very to the risk of getting coronavirus, but if every one wears one it will make a difference to spreading it. They will reduce the risk and I would wear a mask in indoor spaces like supermarkets.

At the beginning of the pandemic I was definitely exposed sharing a small office with other HCP and we were not wearing masks at that point. Some of those HCP had covid antibodies on testing later, despite not showing classic symptoms of covid( they had other symptoms) and not isolating as we didn't have the testing at that point. So I have definitely been exposed, indoors in a small space without masks and did not get it ( well enough to produce antibodies to). I have been tested weekly since May and had negative tests every time.

I'm sure genetics and other factors play.

@Dreamylemon thanks for the info. How much do you think viral load determines how sick a person will get? I am thinking that if a mask filters out most of the virus, then if you only get a small amount, you will get less sick. Do you think this is true?

@ReluctantHomeschooler I don't know the answer, but I would rather wear a mask which appears to reduce transmission until I do know the answer

Where I live, since last week we now have to wear n95/ffp2 masks in supermarkets/ any shops/ doctors etc. As they are saying the fabrics masks are basically pointless, the only reason they didn’t make compulsory form the start was that there simply weren’t enough. The n95 /ffp2 masks are supposed to be 94% protective, and the fabric masks 30-50%.
I don’t know anyone here who has had it, and pretty much everyone must be going to supermarkets as home delivery doesn’t really exist outside of the main city.

I go to the supermarket, Homebase if needed and occasionally buy takeaway coffee. I would be pretty miffed if I caught it because I don't stay within 2m of anyone for more than seconds (eg passing in an aisle)

What people mean is they have had no social contact

Reading through this thread I'm also really curious to know if people who have been really careful and avoided risky situations, been meticulous about masks, distancing and hand washing but still tested positive, have experienced relatively mild illness?

Before - Im one of those and I eem to have had it really mildly.

Mooty - i think thats perhaps the point of the thread. People say "I dont know how I got it" thinking that following the "rules" will keep them safe.

We always knew where our son caught it - school.
As a family we managed to avoid it (unless the other three of us were all asymptomatic).

I wear a mask and distance when I do go out (we're doing click and collect so not visiting supermarkets at the moment) but as the virus could enter via your eyes, ears, hair, clothes etc, I've always known that was a risk.

So are you just really irritated by people who have 'no idea' how they got it and just want them to stop? 😂

I would think that if anyone has caught it recently (since December), if they live in an area with very high case rates it's going to be more possible that they could catch it in a shop, from delivery , or chatting to someone outdoors, simply because there is such a lot more of it about and that the new variant is more contagious.

The poster who describes various contacts and activities in a tier one area last Autumn would have been able to do all those things and not catch it because the virus wasn't in their area to start with . Hence the tier 1.

That's interesting Trying, thanks for responding. I've never really worked out whether the viral load theory is sound or a bit of a myth (I think I read a post on here that debunked it) but it would be reassuring to think that all the precautions serve a useful purpose, even if they don't prevent infection, which I'm starting to feel is inevitable at some point.

Really glad to know that you're not too poorly with the virus and hoping you're feeling completely better soon.

I also wonder if people who, say, work in a supermarket come in to contact with tiny bits of the virus every day and have managed to build some kind of immunity whereas someone who has been working from home since last March has perhaps lost immunity as their body has not been given anything to fight off . Therefore that person is more likely to catch from a low viral load on packaging .

In no way do I know if this is 'science' but I just wondered as it would seem to make sense to me.

That’s an interesting theory @shinynewapple2021. Isn’t that how vaccinations work, by giving you a small amount of the virus so that you develop antibodies? If so, and if I’m right about viral load, it would make sense that by wearing a mask you will only get a small amount of the virus.

We’re one of those.

We do our supermarket shopping online and only pick up bits that are missed off, this hasn’t happened for a while so we haven’t been in a food shop for a long time.

I have a hospital appointment coming up so we avoided the chemist as well and switched to postal delivery.

We walk our dog and take my son to the park, but if there are other children at the playpark we go home. We’ve been acting like this for months as I’m CEV.

On Sunday my son (who isn’t at school) developed a cough and temperature, he had his positive result on Tuesday. By then my partner had typical mild cold symptoms. I started to develop symptoms which are now bad cough, high temperature, fatigue, bad stomach, no taste, no appetite at all, my blood sugars are awful and I’m really struggling to keep them under control so I can’t sleep for more than two hours at a time, I’m also breathless when I do anything.

My consultant advised me to get tested to confirm I had covid, luckily a colleague was able to drop off some lateral flow at home tests and unsurprisingly we both tested positive. Its shit, especially as I was due to have my vaccine on Tuesday.

I'd interested to know if the people who have no idea how they caught it were symptomatic or asymptomatic. A good friend of mine was track & traced before Christmas and then tested positive, but had zero symptoms and has since tested negative for antibodies. Did she ever really have it at all or was it a false positive? Makes you wonder.

That's so unlucky @SimonJT hope you feel better soon .

Sorry to hear that @SimonJT

Do I remember you saying you lived in a large apartment block in London? Would lift sharing/lots of people using the lifts one after another be a possibility?

@davidsSchitt

Sorry to hear that *@SimonJT*

Do I remember you saying you lived in a large apartment block in London? Would lift sharing/lots of people using the lifts one after another be a possibility?

We have our own entrance (fairly small building), I was only saying last night I didn’t even get to do anything remotely fun to catch it!

It must be someone else I'm thinking of. That's rubbish!

No mystery where I caught it - from DH.

The mystery is how he, most of his colleagues and all but one of the residents caught it in the care home where he works, despite staff wearing masks at all times and everything being sanitised to within an inch of its life.

I haven’t had it touch wood 🪵
I don’t go out unless it food shop or medical app! (This lockdown ) same for lockdown 1 and 2 and throughout the summer did go out and enjoyed some much welcomed freedom but still super careful !

When I do have to go out I mask up avoid people like the plague and I DO NOT TOUCH my mask or face I sterilise my hands before during and after ! I went supermarket this week and the amount of people fingering their masks or wearing them below the nose is probably why they are catching it a false sense of security that’s just my take on it thou x

despite staff wearing masks at all times and everything being sanitised to within an inch of its life.

If everyone is indoors all the time the masks and sanitising won't make much difference. The key is prolonged indoor contact.

That's why employers making staff come back to offices because they are now "covid secure" are wrong.

I think people think the mask is magic, without realising that being indoors with other people is the risk. I think eveyone likes to reassure themselves they're doing it "right" but OP you're right people aren't seeing the risks.

Sorry to hear you're ill too Simon and hope you start to feel better soon . What do you reckon it was!? It's puzzling isn't it.

@PuzzledObserver the best way to stop the spread would be to have all windows open all the time, by appreciate that’s probably not very practical in a care home.

TryingNotToPanicOverCovid

Or maybe its just more transmissible outside than it previously was?!?
Well, the Kent variant is more transmissable so my rationale tells me that relates to both indoors and out. Also it seems the 2 metres distance was an arbitrary figure, probably based on how far larger droplets project and the practicalilties of distancing in enclosed areas. In reality, if the virus is airborne, you only have to look at exhaled breath in cold weather to see it can travel much further. Tests have also been done in supermarkets that show coughs and sneezes going up and over the food shelving into the next aisle. Combined with some face coverings offering little protection, it is within the realms possibility that it is caught more easily in supermarkets than previously believed.
Although I've noticed many more people using masks outdoors, not everyone is, so if it is more transmissable, it could be just from being outdoors.