@Lali1 wrote:
All this talk about a bunch of people being exposed to the virus at churches, hair salons etc never seems to include Walmart and grocery stores. Makes me wonder why not. I know my local sushi place came out and said one of the employees had the virus and some people may have been exposed. Of course they weren't open for dining in.I really wonder how many people have been exposed at stores. It's not like it's not happening just no one is telling us these stats.
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@Lali1 That is a pretty easy one to address. The longer you share the same air space with someone that is contagious in addition to air circulation due to air conditioning or central heat, the greater the risk of contracting the disease.
Just passing someone that is contagious in a grocery store is pretty low risk, especially if the contagious person is wearing a mask.
Studies conducted since the start of this coronavirus have clearly documented that talking and singing greatly increase the number of respiratory droplets expelled from an individual. And they travel further when talking or singing than if someone is just breathing normally.
Masks will help cut down on transmission of many of the respiratory droplets, but studies do show that more droplets escape the mask with singing. That is due to the diaphragmatic pressure involved with singing.
So close people up in a room for at least an hour with particles potentially being picked up by air flow from air conditioning and it could be risky. And certainly more risky than grocery shopping. When you are in the grocery you are moving through the aisles, stopping for just a minute or two to make a selection, and then moving on. Not a 100% guarantee, but it is really low risk. Especially if the majority are wearing masks & maintaining social distance.
That is not the case with either church or eating inside a restaurant. Furthermore, there have been multiple cases of outbreaks of covid-19 all across the country that have occurred from people attending church services in churches that refused to close down. They have been well documented.
We had that happen in our state with a small revival in a country town. It led to more than 60 cases of covid-19 and 9 deaths.
Hopefully, with church services starting to take place people will be wearing masks. But then again.........
Our state has not had any transmission from a worker (eating establishment, Walmart, Target, or grocery store) to a customer. Again, pretty low risk if the employee is wearing a mask and the customer is interacting with the employee for a short period of time. However, there have been cases in which an employee was contagious and infected another coworker.
Again, it is not just a chance encounter that has the most risk. The time spent in an enclosed space with air circulation that can carry the droplets farther than normal is what really increases the risk of contagion substantially. Which is why it is common to be passed from employee to employee.
Multiple seating charts with contact tracing from China, Italy, and Singapore demonstrated how just one person eating could expose multiple people at other tables a pretty good distance apart. Of course diners, talk & laugh during eating, most spend a pretty good amount of time there, and the air conditioning carries the droplets to other individuals seated at other tables. Many of those charts are online and they are really interesting to look at.
As long as viral activity is taking place, probably the 2 highest risk places to be right now are inside a church for church service or eating inside a restaurant. The trick is knowing when viral activity is present in your particular area.
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Disappointed, but totally understand the reasoning.
