Apparently people who do a weekly shop are the likeliest to get covid

?

@Aligrias1 oh that did make me laugh !! Thank you ?

I shop daily (in a supermarket) and haven’t had Covid.

It’s another way of telling us that if we get it, we weren’t careful enough.

It may be untrue but it stands to reason it does make sense to me. Here in the USA most (if not all grocers) allow you to order your groceries online then drive to a designated parking space and pop your trunk. I've been doing it sense the virus started, I love it plus don't we all usually purchase the same products each shopping visit? Easy breezy....I never much liked pushing that heavy cart through the store even when I was younger and no covid to be considered. You simply create an online account, use digital coupons if available, the system reminds you of what you purchased before, you can view your receipts, I recommend this to all seniors. You can complete an order on your cell phone, set your pickup time and date and be done with it. There's a comment section so you can tell the grocer certain preferences, try it, I don't like crowds and being run over by a random cart being pushed by a stressed out 35 year old soccer mom with 3 children in tow!

Correlation and cause are different. That some folks do their shopping themselves and some by delivery might be a case of social class and/or economic distinction. Poor people from particular groups might well do more shopping weekly and even daily.

Surely infection is more to do with the number of possible contacts and the observation of precautionary behaviours than just actually shopping per se?

M0nica

Should have added;

This does not mean that people did not get COVID, even though they were travelling on the tube, only that those who got COVID did not travel on the tube more frequently than those that didn't.

People really need to read and understand exactly what the researchers did and exactly what their results are actually saying. It is rare for a media report to do so. They are ofen written from press releases released by the relevant university press office and I know from DS, who is a university academic, that the reearchers often get no sight and have no opportunity to change press releases that talk arrant nonsense.

I totally agree that ‘People really need to read and understand exactly what the researchers did and exactly what their results are actually saying. It is rare for a media report to do so.’

Interested to hear of your son’s experience.

maggic

SAGE report which was the source of the newspaper articles is available to read here on the gov.uk website: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1045002/S1470_Non_household_activities_covid_risk__1_.pdf

Thank you Maggic. That is helpful.

SAGE report which was the source of the newspaper articles is available to read here on the gov.uk website: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1045002/S1470_Non_household_activities_covid_risk__1_.pdf

pinkjj27

This sound to me like very bad research, where all the variables have not been control. So, there is probably a correlation but not a cause.
Unless people who shop weekly live in a bubble for the rest of week it would be almost impossible to prove causation.

Goodness me, it's not bad research. It's bad reporting.

Skydancer

The buses round here have the windows fixed open. They can't do that on trains presumably? I'm planning a longish train journey soon. Any tips?

Book 1st class seating less likely to be crowded
FFP2 mask if you are really concerned

This sound to me like very bad research, where all the variables have not been control. So, there is probably a correlation but not a cause.
Unless people who shop weekly live in a bubble for the rest of week it would be almost impossible to prove causation.

One thing I remember from school was the teacher telling us not to believe everything we read in newspapers.

Maddyone, sounds reasonable. After all it didn’t say ‘in a supermarket’. I go out at lunchtime to pick up bits and pieces.

I’ve come to conclusion that it’s got nothing to do with the actual weekly shop, but more likely to be that people who shop once a week are probably more likely to be working and therefore engaging in other activities such as travel etc that make them more likely to contract Covid. My opinion only.

The buses round here have the windows fixed open. They can't do that on trains presumably? I'm planning a longish train journey soon. Any tips?

Alegrias1

I went and had a look at the study on which this is based. I tend not to agree with the cries of rubbish as the headlines are usually based on good solid research which the press decide to interpret as they see fit.

What I learnt:

Those who went shopping once a week have the highest chance of catching Covid.

Those who went shopping more than once a week have a much reduced chance of catching Covid compared to those who go once a week.

So probably, there are other complicating factors at play and the people who go shopping exactly once a week are exposing themselves to other risk factors as well.

As you were.

Maybe the increased risk for shopping once a week, as opposed to more than once, is that those who go once a week are more likely to spend longer inside the building. Also, you will probably be in contact with the same people for a longer time, especially with a one-way system that means everyone's taking the same route. So although if you go more often you will be in the same building at the same time as more people, it's not so likely you'll be in contact with an infected person for long enough to get a sufficient viral load.

I'm doing a click and collect this week, driving myself there and back, washing hands. Minimally risky I think.
Some newspaper headlines are utter tosh.

Makes sense: how many people pick up and look at goods before putting them back. If their hygiene isn’t good …
We still have everything we need delivered from Ocado who do not pick from local supermarkets. With new guidelines coming into force I do not feel at all safe even after three vaccinations. (I’m CEV)

I doubt this story. There are many other forms of proximity than shopping.

Must be why all those people who worked in supermarkets died in their thousands ?

didn`t someone , somewhere, say we need to learn to live with this virus? so that includes listening/reading these reviews??

good grief!

Claickbait headlines, I'd say. What about those who commute to work and back? Or Custom er Care employees?

I'm amazed by how few people are sanitising their hands either before or after going into the shop, and how few are cleaning their trolleys which the supermarkets don't appear to be doing now.

I think there’s a real problem with parts of the press coming up with attention-grabbing headlines like this. It might be true, it might not but, unless it’s backed by reference to peer-reviewed research, I would not pay it too much attention. Having said that, I haven’t done my regular supermarket shop in person for nearly 2 years! Have saved hours of my life ?

Alegrias1

I went and had a look at the study on which this is based. I tend not to agree with the cries of rubbish as the headlines are usually based on good solid research which the press decide to interpret as they see fit.

What I learnt:

Those who went shopping once a week have the highest chance of catching Covid.

Those who went shopping more than once a week have a much reduced chance of catching Covid compared to those who go once a week.

So probably, there are other complicating factors at play and the people who go shopping exactly once a week are exposing themselves to other risk factors as well.

As you were.

What I learnt:
The newspapers make up random headlines with absolutely no base at all.
Their “research” is usually on about 4 people and on about a quarter of what they actually say.

As they say, don’t let the facts get in the at of a good story.