# How many people here have never knowingly had COVID? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [January 3, 2024, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-here-have-never-knowingly-had-covid/995566 "2024-01-03T22:16:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-here-have-never-knowingly-had-covid/995566/61 "2024-01-05T16:39:38Z")
I’ve been exposed to COVID at least once, but never developed any symptoms. I’ve had four vaccinations, but none since October of 2022. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-here-have-never-knowingly-had-covid/995566/62 "2024-01-05T16:45:26Z")
👋 ---
**Author:** ![SoToasty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sotoasty/32/2803_2.png) [@SoToasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoToasty)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-here-have-never-knowingly-had-covid/995566/63 "2024-01-05T16:47:41Z")
Been exposed 4 times for a lengthy amount of time. 3 vaccinations. According to tests, no infections. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-here-have-never-knowingly-had-covid/995566/64 "2024-01-05T17:07:55Z")
Me either. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-here-have-never-knowingly-had-covid/995566/65 "2024-01-05T23:24:16Z")
Of ten family members that gathered for a family meal this Christmas Eve, so far six have gotten COVID. One of my step-brothers (in his late fifties), who has had COVID before AND had long-COVID symptoms for about a year afterwards is the presumed Typhoid Mary. He felt sick the next day and tested positive. A day or so after him the dominoes began to fall - step-mother and father (late seventies to early eighties) about three days apart, my other step-brother (fifties), two nieces (twenties). Far as I know no especially bad cases at this point, just unpleasant. To date I have emerged unscathed - no symptoms, several negative tests. I was vaccinated in late October, which no doubt helped a bit (but everybody in my family is fully vaccinated). So, so far no infections that are _confirmed_. However, as I’ve mentioned before I strongly suspect a “chest cold” I had at the very start of the pandemic was COVID. But it wasn’t bad enough for me to get authorized one of the then very scarce tests, so I’ll likely never know. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-here-have-never-knowingly-had-covid/995566/66 "2024-01-05T23:28:48Z")
I’ve never had it, as far as I know. I haven’t had any respiratory infections since the whole mess started at the end of 2019. Last May I had a 48 hour intestinal bug, but that’s something different. ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-here-have-never-knowingly-had-covid/995566/67 "2024-01-05T23:29:30Z")
Never had it {knocks wood} - got all the vaccinations, and tested whenever someone near to me got it. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-here-have-never-knowingly-had-covid/995566/68 "2024-01-05T23:39:42Z")
I almost could have answered yes, but I tested positive this afternoon. (I was feeling kind of lousy a couple days ago, but nothing that rest and ibuprofin couldn’t handle. Yesterday and today I’ve been feeling better, but my SO is sick and took a home test that came out solidly positive, so I took one too and mine was positive as well.) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-here-have-never-knowingly-had-covid/995566/69 "2024-01-06T03:05:16Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I almost could have answered yes, but I tested positive this afternoon. Ain’t that a bitch? I almost made it four years. May your experience remain mild. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-here-have-never-knowingly-had-covid/995566/70 "2024-01-06T08:57:53Z")
No - and have tested regularly if there was anything remotely symptomatic. I’m genuinely baffled, since I’m usually the first one to get whatever lurgy is doing the rounds at work. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-here-have-never-knowingly-had-covid/995566/71 "2024-01-06T09:46:11Z")
Never got it. Tested regularly during the “new norm” years. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-here-have-never-knowingly-had-covid/995566/72 "2024-01-06T22:29:00Z")
To add to our anecdotal collection here: I have never had COVID that I know of. I had all many of the symptoms a couple of months ago but I tested negative. I guess it was likely flu. It was a bit tough, but not the very worst flu I’ve eve had. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-here-have-never-knowingly-had-covid/995566/73 "2024-01-09T17:12:46Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > I’ve never tested positive for covid, but one time my doctor said he suspected I had it because I’d lost my sense of taste. Other illnesses can make you lose your sense of taste, though. I lost my sense of taste for weeks after getting the mildest case of the sniffles a good 2 months before they even began reporting at NYE 2019 that there were a couple dozen strange pneumonia cases in China, so that’s extremely unlikely to have been covid. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-here-have-never-knowingly-had-covid/995566/74 "2024-01-10T22:37:28Z")
Ditto, except it happened to me twice, both times years before covid. The first time was decades ago. It freaked me out. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-here-have-never-knowingly-had-covid/995566/75 "2024-03-31T04:54:48Z")
I’m pretty sure I’ve never had COVID. I certainly never tested positive and only once during the time it’s been around did I have symptoms that I thought merited a test. (The other times were required before medical procedures or other things.) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2024, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-here-have-never-knowingly-had-covid/995566/76 "2024-05-03T19:43:07Z")
Me. I worked from home, my wife-m who works at a grocery store so was “essential” did all the in person shopping,. etc, And I got all the shots and boosters. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2024, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-here-have-never-knowingly-had-covid/995566/77 "2024-05-03T21:00:44Z")
Same. So far as I know, I haven’t had it. I tested twice when I got a 12-hour weird bout of the sneezes a few months ago, even though the symptoms were all wrong. Negative for both tests spaced 3 days apart. I’ve had all shots and boosters except the one most recently recommended for we oldies. I may skip it and wait till fall. My reactions to the shots are 3 days of pure misery. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2024, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-here-have-never-knowingly-had-covid/995566/78 "2024-05-03T21:01:32Z")
AFAIK, neither my wife nor I have ever had it. ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2024, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-here-have-never-knowingly-had-covid/995566/79 "2024-05-03T21:03:14Z")
Still a no, despite spending 3 days in a hotel room and 16 hours in a car with my sick wife… We masked in the car. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2024, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-here-have-never-knowingly-had-covid/995566/80 "2024-05-04T07:31:42Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > And I’m pretty sure i haven’t had covid yet. But we are going out more, so i suspect it’s just a matter of time. Sadly, this was true. My husband picked it up at a conference, and a few days later my daughter and i caught it. I was pretty sick. I was only very sick (fever, bedridden) for a couple of days, and never dangerously ill, but i didn’t have the energy to DO anything for a couple of weeks, and I’m still kind of paying for all the stuff i didn’t do during those weeks. And i lost my sense of smell completely for a day, and it took a few weeks to come back. I think it’s now fully recovered. Cleaning the litter box is less unpleasant with no sense of smell. But i felt blind. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-here-have-never-knowingly-had-covid/995566.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-here-have-never-knowingly-had-covid/995566.md?page=5)