I found out yesterday my cousin tested positive. Someone he had a passing contact with tested positive so he got tested. He has been completely asymptomatic so far, he’s 35 and pretty healthy.
A few weeks back, my sister’s best guy friend (from since they were both toddlers) died of COVID. He was 56. I used to babysit him when I was a teen.
My sister in law has tested positive now too.
After 4.5 months with no personal experience of COVID, a friend just had it. (70+ female, good health, Georgia). Her symptoms were low fever, pain all over her skin, loss of sense of smell/taste, mild cough, extreme fatigue – she basically slept for 4 days and then got better.
She had coincidentally scheduled a coronavirus test for the day she first started feeling sick. Her results came back positive when she was already feeling better.
I’m now at the point where I’ve heard of some relatives of friends who have died of it.
A member of our church just lost both parents to Covid. Her Mom died last week, and they went down to bury her over the weekend. Her Dad, who had been hospitalized along with her Mom, died this morning.
We have had our first teacher die of the virus. My boss mentioned, “He was two years younger than you.”
Went to a typical Wisconsin wedding 2 1/2 weeks ago. ~100 in church and about 300 at the reception. Roughly 2 dozen masks in sight. Parties from 2 states. Bride’s parents still have not heard of a single Covid case. We had my daughter’s graduation cookout the following weekend with some of the same people. We have not heard of a single case.
Except for the half dozen or so people that just happen to work at the same facility as me but the other end of the building and on different shifts my personal experience is still NO. My wife is a no also. Just friends of friends of friends.
Have a friend who tested positive, and when she went to get checked out they found that she also has strep throat, because why wouldn’t you want a two for one special. (Fortunately she is doing well in spite of a history of breathing problems, and the rest of her family also seems to be getting by with just ‘treat it like the flu’).
The lady who cuts my hair called last weekend to re-schedule my appointment because she tested positive. She went to Florida to “sit on the beach for a few days” right after my last appointment with her. She said she only had mild symptoms. She’d been brushing off COVID and complaining about having to wear a mask… this after being hospitalized twice in the dozen years I’ve known her due to the flu.
In early March, I got violently ill at work - I eventually projectile vomited into my wastebasket and had to be escorted to a cab home, where I spent the next 24 hours in bed with a fever, chills, and sweats, in spite of being bundled in several layers of warm clothing, plus a gigantic down comforter and a fleece blanket.
Of course, at the time we didn’t really see digestive problems as COVID symptoms, and chances are it was food poisoning or somesuch. But I have been a public transportation commuter for my entire career and worked in a high-rise with lots of people who traveled internationally.
I am curious, of course, but curious enough to get an antibody test? I dunno. It might reduce my anxiety level if I found out I’d already had it and survived - after all, my 79-year-old asthmatic father tested positive for antibodies and never had any symptoms. OTOH if knowing I had antibodies wouldn’t change my behavior, is there any point?
And it depends which is available to you as well. Two weeks ago I asked my GP about getting an antibody test based on a prolonged but not serious illness in early March with overlapping symptoms. He said that all they had available at the moment were tests with a very low accuracy rate (~50% according to him). He thought it was a waste of time due to both that inaccuracy and that so far they had gotten zero hits on it in our area from March (and this is a large HMO). He thought they should be getting a more accurate version in September and I could check back in then if I was still interested. But again if antibodies really do wane after ~ 3 months it might be worthless already and there is no way that they’d have a T-cell test that would be available for the general public anytime soon.
So my own curiosity is still stuck in neutral.
Just found out my uncle is Covid-positive and now on a ventilator. He’s 78, Alzheimer’s, diabetic, and COPD. I don’t think the outlook is good. I don’t know much about diabetes, but relatives tell me it was so severe they were considering amputating one leg due to related problems (before Covid).
One of my old gaming group that I still know on Facebook has just been diagnosed with it. So far it’s a “mild” Covid case, which means pretty bad flu symptoms and pains. We hadn’t gamed hardly at all over the past few years, but I always saw him at the yearly Dice Tower boardgaming convention, which was cancelled this year.
There have been three positive cases at work. One was early when the lockdowns just started, I don’t know who, but I suspect the store manager because he suddenly disappeared for about six weeks.
The other two were recent. One girl came to work, then got a phone call that her boyfriend’s father got a positive test result, and she had just moved in with them. So she had to go home. Since then, her results came back positive, and I think she had some symptoms but not serious.
Today another employee called in and said he’s positive. Has to quarantine for 14 days. He’s around 70, so I’m hoping for the best.
We think my sister’s aunt-in-law had it. She didn’t get tested, but had a bunch of symptoms and was terribly sick for a couple weeks, quarantining at home. She’s better now.
My brother was sent home today. I’m amazed that he survived given his pre-existing issues. They gave him plasma and he recovered.
My sister in law has not needed hospitalization.
Me. I went to dialysis on July 1, where everyone is pre-screened before you’re allowed to enter. I was sent home with a temperature above 100° and advised to get a test. I tested positive on July 1 and went to the hospital because I needed dialysis and the clinic that treated Covid patients was at capacity. I stayed in the hospital for a week, then went to a rehab home which transported me to dialysis about 15 miles out of town because a chair had finally opened up. I had to be swabbed three times a week (boy, that hurt) but kept coming up positive, except for one, probably false, negative result. I finally was cleared to return to my original clinic at the end of July. I was released from isolation and was transferred to the regular part of the rehab facility. I was discharged today and came home. I was lucky in that my symptoms were pretty mild and resolved themselves.
I just talked to my brother. He sounds so good and said he feels better than he has in years. The plasma treatment just did wonders for him.
His doctor told him he felt certain that he would not survive the night and he is amazed that he recovered. He said he’s going to do a write up of some sort for a medical journal covering his case.
One month later: She was never very sick, although she did have some unusual symptoms (among other things, her sense of smell because MORE sensitive) and she is on the way to a full recovery.
The two people who were diagnosed recently at work are over it.
One was back today, the other starts back Saturday. The one today said her case wasn’t that bad, but she got really tired of being stuck at home.