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I have a friend from high school who had it. She was pretty sick for a few weeks and recovering to pre-covid levels of endurance is taking awhile, but she never had to be hospitalized.
This isn't a direct friend, but the best friend of a close friend from childhood (so a legit story) almost died. He was healthy, late 30's, and he was on a ventilator for a long time. He was sick for 3 months and is just now recovering.

A former coworker and his partner had it. He didn't really have any symptoms, but she definitely did and was very sick. He only got tested because she tested positive. Crazy how different it can be for different people. ETA: also my friend's brother had it -- I believe he had some symptoms but not terrible, and he's better now.

One of my husband's law school friends and his wife had it back in March or so. Luckily their daughters weren't affected. They said it was definitely worse than the flu. She got very weak and he got horrible headaches. I haven't heard if they have had any lasting issues.

Unfortunately my neighbor has lost two relatives. Both older, but still.

My coworker's elderly mother had it and was in the hospital. Thankfully she has recovered but will be in rehab.

Another coworker's brother had it. I don't think he had it too bad. She thinks she must have had it and was asymptomatic as they spent a lot of time together around that same time. She was just exposed again more recently and tested negative. Not sure if she got tested for antibodies or not.

My good girlfriends mother died from it in may, she was in her 80s but in good health before covid. She was only sick a week or so before she passed. And my childhood friend (my sisters BFF still) had it in March she is in her 40s has asthma and other health issues. She “recovered” after a couple weeks. Hers was fever weakness cough and difficulty breathing. Her O2 dropped into the high 80s but was not low enough for her to be admitted to the hospital. She has had more issues since recovering and her drs are saying is permanent damage from covid. Mostly lung issues.

My cousin and her finance. They are in the late 20s and only had a mild fever. The fiance only found out bc he traveled out of state and the company asked him to be tested when he got back.

My kids old preschool teacher lost both her parents due to Covid.

A mom friend (early 30's) is a bank manager who worked with lots of people to apply for the ppp loans. She had fevers and severe headaches. She recovered but she has a special needs toddler and it was tough on all of them.

My husband's coworker went to the beach over Fourth of July. They actually closed the building for one week after the holiday bc they were afraid people would travel, go to bbqs, etc and contract it. Thank goodness bc the coworker started showing symptoms like Wednesday the next week and was tested right away and never actually came into work.

My dear friends 14 yo daughter had it. This was back in March and although she was hospitalized and had all the symptoms, they refused testing because she did not meet the criteria back when it was so hard to get tested. She recovered slowly, no one else in their household got it/had symptoms.

It was beyond infuriating to learn she was refused testing at the time and so scary for my friend. I’m glad more testing is available now, the numbers are hard to trust these days (we are in FL and it’s a mess) but before we just had no clue what was happening.

@JennyLayneAZ: ok this is what I want to know as well! Why aren’t more people in a family/close contact getting it? Obviously I’m sure people are being more careful and washing hands etc but i think it china like 80% was family spread. I wish we had more answers about everything regarding COVID

I’ve had 2 pts have it, one was hospitalized on a vent recovered and his daughter was positive as well, mild symptoms.
My bil dad had it and died in fl early on in the covid situation so they were sure what they were dealing with
3-4 people at my husbands work have been positive. The company does contact tracing and all additional people sent for testing have been negative

My good friends parents both had it, it was bad cold/flulike symptoms for them. My MILs neighbors (husband/wife) - his symptoms were mild, she was hospitalized.

I went to a neighborhood birthday party two weeks ago, and then a lot of people ended up testing positive shortly thereafter. All had extremely mild symptoms, like slight fever for a day, or body aches similar to what you'd get after a week of working out hard. But no one had anything serious and one guy has already been back outside running. Me and my family are fine. So, maybe like 12 people I know recently have it. And there are so many others who have tested positive, but just don't talk about it publicly, which I think is crazy. There is no shame in getting the virus, and it should be known who has it so that we can all take our own measures to avoid any perceived risk.

@JJ2626: Nope. No masks. It was all a trusted group of neighbors. You can imagine where I fall on the covid quarantine scale. I respect everyone's stance on it.

My boss from my college internship passed away in May from complications from Covid. He was older and lived in England.

@agold: It's so tricky with neighbors. There are two families on our block with kids about the same age as DS, so we let DS stop social distancing with them to play since he was desperate to play with them (only outside and the adults still stay at least 6 feet apart). The families initially said that they were all working from home and not going anywhere, so we felt okay about it. But as we've talked, we've heard one of them talking about going to other neighbors' houses for dinner and then the other family hired a babysitter. I feel terrible for DS if we have to backtrack and have him not play with the girls because they live next door, so he can literally hear and see them playing together, but we might have to if cases keep going back up here.

@agold: It's been months since I've posted here, and your post has upset me so much I had to respond. I cannot believe that your attitude remains cavalier after what happened in your neighborhood. Your estimate is that 12 people at that party got it-12!!!-and your description of how "mild" their symptoms were, so mild, in fact, that one of them is already running again, is proof that you really don't see the big picture here. Every single one of those 12 people could have (and did likely) pass it on to an infinite number of others. And for those others-elderly, those who have pre-existing conditions, or someone who just gets horribly ill for no apparent reason-all come back to that one party where no one felt it was prudent to put a mask on his or her face. I live in California, too, and it is house parties like this that cause our numbers to surge, and is the reason schools cannot open. My neighbor is one of my closest friends, and when we sit and have a drink on her porch, both of us wear masks and sit 6 feet apart. It's just a respectful thing to do for everyone else. Please, please think about others and put a mask on.

I know three people who have died, all healthy previously, and numerous others who have gotten sick. It has been sobering and a stark reminder of the realities of being cavalier with this disease. I have a heart condition and autonomic nervous system disorder, and I'm afraid of getting it...

Reading agold's response was possibly more upsetting for me than the original comment, it was so dismissive of ChiCalGoBee's feelings. Even if agold disagrees, there is a way to acknowledge and be respectful of someone else's feelings. That post speaks volumes and is reflective of the problem confronting America with this virus: the individual's "right" to harm others over their choice to care for their community. I have come to think of mask wearing kind of like second-hand smoking. I may not die from second-hand smoke, but it's still not some else's right to impact my health with their poor choices. Perhaps I'm just really down today, but this little microcosm of the infighting I see playing out all over our country right now has unearthed for me a bitter reality of the culture of some Americans.

@foodiebee: three people, wow, that’s awful. I’m so sorry.

@agold: are your delightful convos w your quest neighbor about the fact that it’s now taking them 10-14 days to get results back (in my state)? Hope your daughter has fun on the water slide, wow.

@agold: yes, cavalier attitudes like yours, and the subsequent house parties and other similar gatherings, are the reason why schools aren’t opening. Our positive tests are going up, not down the way they should be. I am very thankful that your family and friends had mild symptoms, but I sincerely hope that you quarantined after exposure and did not expose anyone else to the virus.

@agold: Your attitude is everything that is wrong with humanity and your selfishness is an attack on your community and those who are working every day to keep you safe. I’m not going to get in a public health argument with someone who clearly does not care to learn (someone who works at quest knows nothing about virus spread!) but I will say your risk assessment is wrong, both for yourself and your community.

@MenagerieMama: Thank you for your work! I work for a hospital and am in awe of my provider colleagues and friends.

Everyone: Wear a mask! Don’t have a party! Be patient!