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Supermarkets are the most common exposure scenario for those contracting COVID-19 in England, new data suggests.
Public Health England (PHE) collected the data using the NHS Test and Trace app.
By analyzing the contacts and following in the footsteps of the 128,808 individuals who reported testing positive between November 9-15, PHE discovered where transmission is likely to occur.
During increased national restrictions in England, supermarkets have remained open for shoppers. The new data set suggests that they are now the main stage where the disease is transmitted.
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The second most common location reported by those who tested positive for COVID-19 was secondary schools, followed by elementary schools and then hospitals and then residences.
Of those who tested positive for COVID-19 on the days analyzed by PHE, 18.3% said they had visited a supermarket.
Approximately 9,789 common locations were reported in total, of which the following list estimates the percentage of the most frequent.
Proportion of all common locations reported in PHE data:
- Supermarket – 18.3%
- Secondary school – 12.7%
- Elementary school – 10.1%
- Hospital – 3.6%
- Nursing home – 2.8%
- University – 2.4%
- Warehouse – 2.2%
- Preschool Nursery – 1.8%
- Pub or bar – 1.6%
- Hospitality – 1.5%
- University – 1.4%
- Manufacturing engineering – 1.4%
- Households of less than five – 1.2%
- General Medicine – 1.1%
- Gym – 1.1%
- Restaurant or cafeteria – 1.0%
In the most recent week, 124 clusters of COVID-19 were recorded in English secondary schools.
The total number of outbreaks in England’s secondary schools is 822, while primary schools have recorded 732 clusters since records began.
Shopping, attending educational child care settings and eating out are among the top three activities reported by people who tested positive before experiencing any symptoms, the data showed.
While it was shown that the number of contacts per exposure is higher among households and domestic visitors.
The PHE charts also suggest that infection rates appear to be stabilizing or even decreasing in some parts of England, such as the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber.
The cases are minor, but still increasing in places like London, the South East and the West Midlands.
The new data comes as government scientific advisers warn that mixing at Christmas presents “substantial risks,” especially for older people, and there is “too much emphasis” on having a normal holiday period.
Professor Andrew Hayward of University College London (UCL) said the country was “on the cusp” of being able to vaccinate older populations and it would be “tragic” to jettison the progress made in suppressing the disease.
Meanwhile, a prominent World Health Organization (WHO) official suggested that families could get together for picnics in the park during the holiday season, adding that this year will be “a different Christmas, but that doesn’t mean it won’t. may be happy. “