# Community Transmission. Can I got Covid - 19 from the following actions....



## Bronco Lane (26 Mar 2021)

Just wondering if there have been many Covid cases reported from doing the following actions.

1. Getting a take out coffee/ice cream cone.
2. Going to the supermarket.
3. Getting a take out meal.
4. Eating cold meats/unwrapped bread/eating fruit/raw vegetables.
5. Touching surfaces.
6. Walking outdoors.
7. Handling currency.
8. Opening post.
9. Walking in my home with my street shoes.
10. Using public transport.


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## EmmDee (26 Mar 2021)

Bronco Lane said:


> Just wondering if there have been many Covid cases reported from doing the following actions.
> 
> 1. Getting a take out coffee/ice cream cone.
> 2. Going to the supermarket.
> ...



My understanding is that contact transmission risk is pretty low. The main risk of transmission is (a) close contact with others, (b) indoor contact with others and (c) larger groups of people - and even higher risk with combination of these.

Most of your list, as I understand it, has very low risk. Supermarket and public transport probably carry the highest risk in that list which is why masks are required.


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## Purple (26 Mar 2021)

Bronco Lane said:


> Just wondering if there have been many Covid cases reported from doing the following actions.
> 
> 1. Getting a take out coffee/ice cream cone.
> 2. Going to the supermarket.
> ...


Infections happen due to the inhalation of exhaled droplets from an infected person.
 Think of it like this; any place you don't want to be when someone farts is a place where you are more likely to get Covid19, or any other virus transmitted in a similar manner. 

Infection from contact with surfaces is very rare.


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## noproblem (26 Mar 2021)

Lots of dangerous incidents that we're never warned about at all. The local sorting office/building for letters parcels had to be temporarily closed recently because of an outbreak, 2nd one we were later informed. After 1 day it was opened again and everything delivered in through everyone's letter box with no warnings or information whatsoever. I can assure you there were lots of infections resulting from this but can I give a link to that? No. Do I clean/wipe envelopes, packages now as a result? I certainly do. By the way, it was our local postman who informed me but it wasn't policy and he wasn't told to do so.  Thankfully, we know him well. How much of this type of incident is happening in all type of activity? A hell of a lot I would imagine.


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## Kimmagegirl (26 Mar 2021)

I have a thing about envelopes and stamps on envelopes that might have been licked.  I just can't buy unwrapped bread or cold meats. In fact when I see hand rolled "roulade" being advertised, I avoid it like the proverbial.


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## Purple (26 Mar 2021)

noproblem said:


> Lots of dangerous incidents that we're never warned about at all. The local sorting office/building for letters parcels had to be temporarily closed recently because of an outbreak, 2nd one we were later informed. After 1 day it was opened again and everything delivered in through everyone's letter box with no warnings or information whatsoever. I can assure you there were lots of infections resulting from this but can I give a link to that? No. Do I clean/wipe envelopes, packages now as a result? I certainly do. By the way, it was our local postman who informed me but it wasn't policy and he wasn't told to do so.  Thankfully, we know him well. How much of this type of incident is happening in all type of activity? A hell of a lot I would imagine.


While the chances of getting infected from surface contact is very low the chances of being infected from surfaces like paper, which adsorb water and so break down droplets, is just about non-existent. 
You certainly shouldn't bother wiping your post unless you suspect the postman is licking it before he puts it through your door.


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## Purple (26 Mar 2021)

Bronco Lane said:


> Just wondering if there have been many Covid cases reported from doing the following actions.
> 
> 1. Getting a take out coffee/ice cream cone.
> 2. Going to the supermarket.
> ...


Given that mask wearing is required on public transport and in shops and there's a very low chance of getting infected from touching things I suspect that transmission wise the things on your list are statistically inconsequential. 
Spending time in close contact in a enclosed and/or badly ventilated place is the number one cause of transmission. That's why having people in your house is such a no-no. Unless you are @Duke of Marmalade and can receive them in the ballroom or another reception room with a 20ft ceiling.


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## odyssey06 (26 Mar 2021)

Kimmagegirl said:


> I have a thing about envelopes and stamps on envelopes that might have been licked.  I just can't buy unwrapped bread or cold meats. In fact when I see hand rolled "roulade" being advertised, I avoid it like the proverbial.


Well you can't catch covid from eating an infected item as it gets broken down in your digestive system.
But there are other nasty things you could get.


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## noproblem (26 Mar 2021)

Purple said:


> While the chances of getting infected from surface contact is very low the chances of being infected from surfaces like paper, which adsorb water and so break down droplets, is just about non-existent.
> You certainly shouldn't bother wiping your post unless you suspect the postman is licking it before he puts it through your door.


The very same postmen/women in the sorting offices that were closed, the ones who handle all letters, etc are the people infected and you're telling me there's almost no chance of infection from what they've handled and God only knows what their hands were rubbing on, eg, mouth, nostrils, eyes, Thanks Purple, but i'm wiping the envelopes. As for fresh fruit? It would help to change some peoples opinions if they stood back and watched what's happening in the fruit/veg departments in Supermarkets. 
It's a bit like the advert on TV telling us of a product that cleans all invisible stains???  Don't think we'll go into that one


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## SlugBreath (26 Mar 2021)

My thing is ATM machines. I visited one today with my bacterial wipe. Wiped all the buttons before using. While waiting for my cash, receipt and card to be given back I decided to give the whole thing a bit of a wipe.  Why waste a good bacterial wipe.


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## Leo (26 Mar 2021)

This topic has been covered here previously, it has been well stablished that fomite surfaces pose little risk. Studies that have shown Covid can survive on surfaces such as steel or plastic for up to 5 days in the right conditions, but most of these studies begin using unrealistically large samples.

If you're worried about touching post, how about not sticking your finger in your eyes or mouth shortly after touching it!


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## Purple (26 Mar 2021)

noproblem said:


> The very same postmen/women in the sorting offices that were closed, the ones who handle all letters, etc are the people infected and you're telling me there's almost no chance of infection from what they've handled


Yes, that's exactly what I'll telling you, because it is demonstrably true.


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## noproblem (26 Mar 2021)

Thanks Purple, good to know. Just been told that the actual post office that's attached to the sorting centre is now closed down for a week from this morning. Pensioners going there from today to collect pensions, etc, now have a round trip of another 24 kms. At least they'll get to break the 5Km rule legally and help keep the virus at bay.


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## Leo (26 Mar 2021)

noproblem said:


> Just been told that the actual post office that's attached to the sorting centre is now closed down for a week from this morning.



This is a similar measure to the closure of classes where there is more than one case. The measure is designed to keep people who may have been exposed to the virus from hanging about in the same enclosed space thus increasing the chances of more people contracting Covid from infectious people. The concern isn't with the potential for contaminated surfaces.


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## EasilyAmused (26 Mar 2021)

Bronco Lane said:


> Just wondering if there have been many Covid cases reported from doing the following actions.
> 
> 1. Getting a take out coffee/ice cream cone.
> 2. Going to the supermarket.
> ...



I don’t think reporting goes to this level of detail. 
However, 2, 5 and 10 have definitely been attributed to transmission over the last 12 months.


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## EasilyAmused (26 Mar 2021)

Back in February last year there was repeated advise not to touch one’s face. This advice we never hear of anymore, presumably because it’s almost impossible.


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## odyssey06 (26 Mar 2021)

EasilyAmused said:


> Back in February last year there was repeated advise not to touch one’s face. This advice we never hear of anymore, presumably because it’s almost impossible.


There was misinformation deliberately spread by China in the early stages of the pandemic that led to this and was accepted hook line and sinker too readily over here.
They said it was spread by touching and surfaces because if it was spread person to person via coughing, sneezing etc they were worried about travel restrictions being imposed on them.
This led to over focus in the early stages of the pandemic on hand sanitisation and not enough focus on ventilation, masks, aerosols etc.
As we were short on masks, we didn't want to use them in situations where they may not have been needed.


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## EasilyAmused (26 Mar 2021)

odyssey06 said:


> As we were short on masks, we didn't want to use them in situations where they may not have been needed.



Yes, seems the WHO advice *not* to use use masks was based on supply rather health advice. 

Having said that, I remember watching Prime Time last April or May and an Irish expert adamant on following WHO advice and a very _smug_ Czech expert claiming their low death and cases rate could be attributed to their mass usage of masks in the early days of the pandemic. 
Fast forward to today and the Czech Republic has a death rate worse than the U.K. and the U.S.A.


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## odyssey06 (26 Mar 2021)

EasilyAmused said:


> Yes, seems the WHO advice *not* to use use masks was based on supply rather health advice.
> 
> Having said that, I remember watching Prime Time last April or May and an Irish expert adamant on following WHO advice and a very _smug_ Czech expert claiming their low death and cases rate could be attributed to their mass usage of masks in the early days of the pandemic.
> Fast forward to today and the Czech Republic has a death rate worse than the U.K. and the U.S.A.


Supply was definitely framing the advice, as well as the idea that if fomite transmission was a big threat that for people to use masks as PPE they needed to use them with medical level training.

And I think at the time they did help the Czechs.
At a time when people are following the lockdown guidelines without masks you are still exposed in community settings.
Masks reduce the risk in shops, buses, hospitals, banks etc
But when people aren't following any of the guidelines at home, parties, travel, sending sick kids to school etc well there's not much they can do.


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## johnwilliams (26 Mar 2021)

oddysses06  says "Well you can't catch covid from eating an infected item as it gets broken down in your digestive system"
came across a report basically saying the mouth and saliva  was a big cause of infection (would get into mouth and infect gums hence lack of smell and taste ,would also travel down throat and into lungs (via saliva) cant remember rest of it ,cant find it now


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## Kimmagegirl (27 Mar 2021)

Bronco Lane said:


> 9. Walking in my home with my street shoes.


I do my supermarket shop every 3 weeks. I place my supermarket bags on the floor of my kitchen, while unpacking.  I always wipe down the bottom of the supermarket bags and wipe the floor with a bleach product, after.

It would help if the track and trace people could get more detailed information from people about their actions over the previous week after catching the virus.  Lumping it in to the category of "community transmission" seems a little too vague for me.


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## EasilyAmused (27 Mar 2021)

AFAIK “community transmission” is the catch-all term used when the contact isn’t known.


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## odyssey06 (27 Mar 2021)

Kimmagegirl said:


> I do my supermarket shop every 3 weeks. I place my supermarket bags on the floor of my kitchen, while unpacking.  I always wipe down the bottom of the supermarket bags and wipe the floor with a bleach product, after.
> 
> It would help if the track and trace people could get more detailed information from people about their actions over the previous week after catching the virus.  Lumping it in to the category of "community transmission" seems a little too vague for me.


They have only now expanded the trace back 7 days to try establish root cause. Before now they went back 2 days to trg determine who else you might have infected. Probably down to resource constraints or maybe they doubt the reliability of peoples accounts eg if breaking restrictions


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## SlugBreath (27 Mar 2021)

odyssey06 said:


> Probably down to resource constraints or maybe they doubt the reliability of peoples accounts eg if breaking restrictions


Do you think that there are many people out there who will lie about what they did in the previous week? I wonder what percentage of people would lie?


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## odyssey06 (27 Mar 2021)

SlugBreath said:


> Do you think that there are many people out there who will lie about what they did in the previous week? I wonder what percentage of people would lie?


Most people yes but I dont expect someone who was at a party or shebeen or on a sun holiday then sent their kids to school to fess up. And probably those engaged in the riskiest exposures are more likely to come into contact with the virus.


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## joer (27 Mar 2021)

And that is why the numbers will stay high unfortunately . So the sooner the better people just try and be responsible for their actions will be the sooner things improve for everyone.


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## EasilyAmused (27 Mar 2021)

Daily case numbers in Cork, Kerry, Kilkenny, Leitrim and Sligo are close to zero. I wonder what people are doing differently?


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## joer (27 Mar 2021)

And Carlow . I do not know why this is though.
We are all just waiting for someone to open the door and let us good people out


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## EasilyAmused (28 Mar 2021)

Kimmagegirl said:


> I do my supermarket shop every 3 weeks. I place my supermarket bags on the floor of my kitchen, while unpacking.  I always wipe down the bottom of the supermarket bags and wipe the floor with a bleach product, after.



I do a “big shop” every two weeks. Apart from wearing a mask, social distancing at the checkout and occasional hand sanitising, my routine is unchanged.


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## SlugBreath (28 Mar 2021)

odyssey06 said:


> Most people yes but I dont expect someone who was at a party or shebeen or on a sun holiday then sent their kids to school to fess up


OK. So Mary has a coffee morning with 4 people present or Joe has a Men's shed meet up.

One of them infects the other three. Who in turn infect 6 family members....who in turn infect 6 other people. So let's say 100 people end up being infected. 

This suggests that there are several Mary/Joes having coffee mornings every day to make up our 600 daily cases.

Is every body keeping quiet about it/where they got it?   I would imagine that word would get out and at some stage this would stop the coffee mornings out of fear. First hand information etc.


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## odyssey06 (28 Mar 2021)

SlugBreath said:


> OK. So Mary has a coffee morning with 4 people present or Joe has a Men's shed meet up.
> 
> One of them infects the other three. Who in turn infect 6 family members....who in turn infect 6 other people. So let's say 100 people end up being infected.
> 
> ...


Not if its random 'coffee mornings' happening to different groups who dont know each other. And the impact on the ppl who attend are mild... but that seeds outbreaks in creches schools workplaces and spills oved into some community spread.


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## RedOnion (28 Mar 2021)

EasilyAmused said:


> I do a “big shop” every two weeks. Apart from wearing a mask, social distancing at the checkout and occasional hand sanitising, my routine is unchanged.


Yes, I've noticed a difference in attitude between those in their 40's who have already had Covid Vs vulnerable people.


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## EasilyAmused (28 Mar 2021)

RedOnion said:


> ...vulnerable people.



How do you profile them as vulnerable? Are you a faith healer or something?


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## Purple (29 Mar 2021)

Kimmagegirl said:


> do my supermarket shop every 3 weeks. I place my supermarket bags on the floor of my kitchen, while unpacking. I always wipe down the bottom of the supermarket bags and wipe the floor with a bleach product, after.


If that makes you feel more comfortable that's fine but the chances of getting infected from the bottom of your shopping bag in extremely small.


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## Purple (29 Mar 2021)

EasilyAmused said:


> I do a “big shop” every two weeks. Apart from wearing a mask, social distancing at the checkout and occasional hand sanitising, my routine is unchanged.


Same here. Mask wearing and social distancing are the only effective ways of reducing risk in that environment.


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