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Two friends have had it. They had mild cases and it took two months for them to start to feel normal again.
One former co-worker (mid-40s) had it and died, leaving his wife and two small daughters.
It's serious, it's real and the fact that people refuse to take it seriously and wear masks strikes me as so egregiously selfish and stupid. I just don't understand what is so hard about wearing a freaking mask and protecting others. -
@agold: The thing is, anything that increases transmission and case counts is why schools are not opening. So, yes, parties with neighbors plays a part in that - that's how germs are spread. For example, public health officials are recommending that schools not reopen unless there is less than a 5% positivity rate with testing. Right now we are at about 3% in Illinois, which has stayed consistent since mid-June. The rates, for comparison, are 7.5% in California, 19% in Florida, 24% in Arizona, and 1% in New York. And, yes, that has to do with rates of testing, but it is also related to the number of positive cases. Just in case you are curious, the table on this website is really interesting https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/COVID-19/COVID19CountyDataTable.aspx
It reports on a variety of metrics by county in California and flags the different types of data points by threshold of concern by county. -
At the end of the day, I think the biggest problem is that the political messaging around this has been a disaster. I looked on in semi-horror from zoom as my brother and SIL held a large, indoor party - no masks and all in close proximity - for my nephew in a county at the center of one of the worst outbreaks in the country. Vulnerable grandparents and family with pre-existing conditions were in attendance. I don't think he's a bad person, it's just that the sources that those around him trust - his pastor, his governor, the president of the U.S. - have downplayed this over and over and over again. "It's not that serious, and you can go about your normal life without spreading it." The fact that I'm an MIT-trained scientist just makes me a "liberal"...And again, he's not a bad person, just believes this because he grew up surrounded by people who believe this, surrounded by people who argued as a litmus test that you go to hell if you believe in evolution, that climate change is a giant hoax, so of course the perspective of scientists is not going to be valued.
It utterly sucks. I'm remembering a recent zoom funeral. Funerals are never pleasant, but it was particularly horrible to see the friends and family of someone who died much too young crying alone on their couches without other grieving friends and family there to comfort them. I currently have close family who are very critically ill and struggling to get the care needed because of the severity of the COVID outbreak. I'm dreading how many more zoom funerals there will be, how many people will have to suffer through that, over and over, before everything is said and done. But also not sure how we somehow cut through all the noise and politics, without having things get much, much worse... I can't even convince my own family who I love and have a good relationship with to take basic precautions, so obviously convincing strangers on the internet is hopeless...
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I think I probably had it in March, but there was no testing so it’s possible it was another serious respiratory illness - it just lines up though. I had 6 days of fever, sore throat and cough to start, and some severe shortness of breath that lasted weeks. I did have a negative flu test and having had that recently, this was absolutely different. My allergies picked up a side of asthma when we moved to TX 6 years ago, but after treating it that year it’s been at bay since I started allergy shots. However this illness brought it back with a vengeance. Anytime my allergies flare, which is too much, I’m using albuterol (rescue inhaler) to get through the day, and I don’t know when that will improve. I’m definitely afraid of these new reports that there’s a chance you can get it twice and it might be worse the second time. Obviously asthma is an underlying condition but it’s a very common one and mine was mild to nonexistent before this illness. I think my younger two kids may have had it due to them having unexplained fevers around that time, but it was mild enough I never took them in. I have wondered if my oldest was more protected, as she’s finally at the age to have had enough illness to not get sick as much anymore and was probably exposed to other corona viruses. I think dh was ok as I remember.
A scary statistic for me: almost 20% of Texas deaths occurred in the last week. We here are just seeing the beginning of what the rise in cases will mean once the lag catches up to us.
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@periwinklebee: completely agree with you on the messaging. Public health and taking care of each other shouldn't be political but it has been made so, and it's exactly why it's going to take us forever to recover from this, if we do at all. The complete lack of empathy and care for others has been astounding in all of this.
My parents both had COVID in April. They're in NJ and my mom works in a nursing home so it was nearly inevitable. I remember the first week of April talking with her and she was telling me about how their staff was being very careless with mask wearing and that her director wasn't enforcing it, and the following week she tested positive, and my dad the week after that. Thankfully, despite them both being in their 60s and my dad a lifelong smoker with hypertension, they are both fine. My mom's symptoms were very mild - mostly nasal pain, loss of smell and taste and some tiredness. My dad was a bit worse off - severe exhaustion for 2+ weeks, body aches and complete loss of appetite, but he never had breathing issues and it never got critical for him to need medical care.
The cases that stick with me the most though are a friend of a friend who has 2 elementary age kids who they think had it (though their test came back negative, they think it was done improperly). The kids were very sick in April (gastro issues, fevers, body aches, exhaustion) and still in July they're getting fevers and exhaustion and literally no one knows what to do. It's terrifying, and I personally have no patience for anyone who has the garbage cavalier attitude about this (including my own brother, who's been raging about how this is all some overhyped thing and how dare their governor not allow bars to open).
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I share the same sentiments with several others on this board. I'm in Chicago where this outbreak was very serious and we all worked hard and sacrificed a lot to get to where we are today (though obviously it is still an issue here as well). We've really isolated ourselves in interest of public health. I find it really concerning that the actions of others will essentially undermine all of our hard work over the last several months.
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I feel like I've read that the virus has mutated and there are two different strains now? Anyone else heard that? Its just so bizarre to me how it is effecting everyone so different - some super mild, and obviously some with life threatening or life ending symptoms. Its just so damn scary.
@periwinklebee: DH's grandma passed away in April (the day before DD2 was born, unfortunately) and we still haven't held any sort of funeral or memorial service for her. Some day, when this virus is under control or there's a vaccine or something in place, we'll have a big shin-dig for her. She loved big parties, so, we'll do that in her honor.
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@JennyLayneAZ: I read that as well. There is a "Wuhan" strain (less contagious) and the European strain. I've heard that the Wuhan strain is more prominent in Chicago but the European strain was more prominent in NYC and now Florida.
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My Dad had it and was hospitalized for two nights. He was not afraid to get sick and did not take social distancing seriously. I felt it was inevitable he would get it. But he ended up catching it in his own home, from a contractor working on his house.
The biggest wake-up call for him has been how long he hasn't been able to see his grandkids. He insists he is fully recovered now, but was released from the hospital just 5 days ago. We are requiring a negative test before he sees them again. It's a heavy price, as results are taking 7+ days to come back in our area. But I'm taking this thing seriously.
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@JennyLayneAZ: I'm so sorry to hear about your husband's grandmother
and that you haven't been able to do anything to celebrate her life yet. I also never answered the original question. The closest person to me who had it was my cousin (around 40) and her high school + college aged kids. She is a public school teacher who got it back in March when things were just starting, and is pretty sure she got it from her classroom, as she hadn't been anywhere else and other people in the school got sick, including one of her student's whose father died from it. She was quite sick but her 02 sats wasn't low enough to be admitted to the hospital and she eventually recovered. Her kids tested positive for antibodies later but just had some extremely mild GI symptoms for part of one day and then have been totally fine.
I think this sort of variability is actually quite common with viruses, but we've forgotten about it since the more dangerous viruses have been largely eradicated through vaccination. For example, prior to the polio vaccine, nearly everyone was infected with polio. 80% of the time polio is asymptomatic, most of the time you just have mild GI symptoms with it, but if it gets into your central nervous system, you are either paralyzed or dead. Measles is also typically mild, but can be very deadly if it leads to encephalitis (when it gets into the brain), or makes the immune system go haywire (which it also does). COVID seems similar, can be really bad if it gets into your circulatory system or makes your immune system go off the rails, if it stays in just your nose in throat, that's not a big deal. And there's a large dose of luck in what happens. As much as things like age and pre-existing conditions have been emphasized, there's still a lot of variation they don't explain....
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My cousin and his fiancé had it very early on. They were never hospitalized, but I heard they were “very sick” despite being about thirty.
My friend’s mother (an ICU nurse) and grandfather had it. Her mother recovered and is back at work, but her grandfather died.
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@agold: Wow, just wow. -_-
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@JennyLayneAZ: There are two strains circulating. I have a friend that works for Imperial College in London as a virologist and she said the D strain out of China is not as infectious, but the G strain out of Europe potentially is more infectious. Keyword potentially. She just submitted a paper with her group on this. There is no difference between the two in severity of sickness (i.e. the new mutation is not more deadly). I've attached the research in this post if anyone is interested. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-07/cp-htp070220.php
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I hope my quick comments on this HB chat aren't making you all as upset as you are making yourselves out to seem. I certainly am not trying to be dismissive. I feel so badly for the economic shut down and how it is really affecting people that I personally know. The very low death rate is what has me not as much concerned about this virus. I am not in contact with many people ever; and certainly not in contact with anyone who doesn't know me and my own exposure level living with an essential worker who has never been able to quarantine. I will be interested in Newsom's next press conference and what he will do with schools. Only one of my kids is in preschool and her school is thus far staying open with an online option for grades k-8. If it closes, then I have a plan in place for that because I don't want her to stop learning right now. I feel so badly for families that have two working parents and also school age children who might not be able to attend school. I pray for this situation because I truly don't see a good option. My sister is a teacher so this is being discussed a lot in my family. Wow, just wow, to all of what's going on. It sure has been a tough 2020 and I really hope everyone is doing okay.
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@Tionn3: thanks for the article (although it is largely over my head lol)
@periwinklebee: thanks. The hardest part was that no one got to say goodbye, which is true for anyone ill right now. I hate the thought that she was "alone", you know? Also, interesting about Polio. I didn't know that.
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@agold: All I will say is mortality is not the only indicator of severity. This virus has a high hospitalization rate and has long term impacts we don’t clearly understand.
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@wrkbrk: @mrsscb: @ChiCalGoBee:
@agold: I'm thankful that you haven't been touched by death from covid yet. Not being concerned about the virus because of its low death rate is a privilege I don't have. You have not been touched by death, so therefore, you aren't worried...I hope you can see how dismissive this sounds toward the deaths others have already experienced.
You feel "so badly"—yet do not modify your behaviors to help lessen the impact to those around you. You are "not in contact with people"—but also attended a party where numerous people were infected. You feel "so badly" for those working parents—but don't want to help your community in the small way that you can to ease the burden of this disaster faster. I can't understand how you can feel these ways and not put that care into action. Without action, it just rings hollow to me.
I truly, sincerely hope we win the game of chicken we're playing with this illness before anyone else I know has to lose a game we don't want to play so that you all don't have to wear something as simple as a mask.
ETA Your being close to an essential worker who can't quarantine should only give you MORE impetus to wear a mask, as your risk of spreading the virus to your community is greater. That is not an effective argument for not taking the virus seriously but a great one for taking it very seriously.
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@foodiebee: Just want to clarify - I didn't attend a party with numerous sick people. All people at the small neighbor party were just fine and only days later had some symptoms. Are small gatherings prohibited in your area? They aren't in mine. A few years ago, there was a terrible flu going around. It actually scared the crap out of me after a really healthy guy I know died after getting it. There was no economic shut down then. I'm certainly worried right now. I'm worried about a lot of things going on in 2020.
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I know two people that had it. One, mid thirties, really really sick for about 2-3 weeks. Eventually recovered, but said it was a pretty brutal illness.
The other person I know is mid-40’s. Had all the symptoms, really really sick, and developed pneumonia. Never hospitalized and recovered on her own. She tested negative for Covid initially, but tested positive for the antibodies.
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@agold: Are you kidding me?!
"I didn't attend a party with numerous sick people. All people at the small neighbor party were just fine and only days later had some symptoms."
That's the thing about SARS-CoV-2 you can infect other people when you are an asymptomatic carrier or when you are in the pre-symptomatic phase and aren't showing symptoms yet! That is why we have stay at home orders, and mask mandates! Just wow!
I'm working on covid-19 related research and your attitude is extremely disrespectful. Not just to the work that I'm doing, but to the many people who have been following the rules and socially distancing, canceling weddings, graduations, job opportunities and going without seeing family or attending important events like funerals for the past 4 months. Myself included! I had to miss my grandmothers funeral because of covid-19! My brother had to cancel his wedding! My friend lost a job promotion and is now unemployed! Your cavalier attitude is disrespectful to all those people that have been going without.
I also hope you realize that 20% of people with an active symptomatic covid-19 infection end up hospitalized. Some that are discharged will have lasting chronic health issues for the rest of their lives! WAKE UP!
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I know nine people who had it for sure. Most of them had symptoms that were like a really severe flu - fever that wouldn't go down for over a week, intense weakness. One recovered at home but had complications that resulted in surgery a month later. Two (57 and 98) died.
A work acquaintance, who's pretty young, was out sick with pneumonia for two weeks in December. We had some kind of horrible bug go through the office in January - no one knows what it was, but people were really sick and one (from Italy) felt so ill he couldn't go back to work for two weeks. COVID wasn't on anyone's radar yet, but in hindsight it was already spreading undetected.
@agold: what @Tionn3: said. The whole trouble with COVID is, people are most contagious before they realize they're sick. If you're at a party with "healthy people" you have zero way of knowing they're healthy, except in hindsight. At which point everyone who got infected has already spread it around. And then it's another one or two weeks before the people they infected show symptoms, at which point they've already infected others.
And the low morality rate is great, until you think about the logistics. This is not like the flu, because more people need hospital support to survive. This is not like the flu, because no one is immune and no one is vaccinated, so once things reach critical mass, you have insane numbers of people needing hospital beds AT ONCE. We came thisclose to running out of beds in NYC, and people died because they were in the hospital on oxygen, took off the oxy mask to use the bathroom, collapsed, and there were not enough nurses to check on them right away. My aunt's son couldn't go to her funeral because he was too sick to stand. For three weeks, we had ambulance sirens going non-stop at all hours day and night, and still the EMTs weren't fast enough. I heard they had a lot of calls where they'd arrive to find the patient already gone. Many sudden heart attacks - no one is sure whether that was COVID, but it messes with the circulatory system, so...
Just wear the stupid mask. It's really not such a big deal in comparison.
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My very best friend from childhood and her BF. Both in their late 30s. She’s extremely healthy, he’s normal healthy. Live in Georgia where masks and social distancing are not a thing. Contracted from his work (he worked with someone he doesn’t normally and they tested positive days later). Exposure happened Friday, he had a fever by Sunday night. Was laid out for about 3 days. Loss of taste/smell, minor muscle aches, fatigue, trouble taking deep breaths. She started showing symptoms that following Thursday. She had loss of taste/smell, minor fatigue and trouble taking deep breaths. It’s been about 8 days since she started showing symptoms and she said she’s almost back to 100%. She pumped both of them full of vitamins all week long and truly believes that helped! She also maintained light exercise on a daily basis (walks, gardening and very easy bike rides) and got at least 2 hours of fresh air everyday.
My moms cousin in NJ. In her 70s and morbidly obese (not sure of health issues related to the obesity). She was unwell for about a week but has fully recovered. I don’t know as many details on that one since I haven’t spoken directly with her and I don’t want to share misinformation.
Neither of these cases were hospitalized.
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I know people who have passed away from covid and others who had it, but had almost zero symptoms. My sister's friend tested positive and her only symptom was a loss of taste. It can easily be spread since so many people may not show symptoms, so wearing masks just in case is such a simple and safe thing to do, it seems a bit silly that wearing masks has become a political issue.
I live in NY in the suburbs outside NYC and thankfully we are doing pretty well here now. I do see that people are starting to take it less seriously which is worrying. My daughter's 1st birthday was in May, but we pushed her party to the end of July hoping that July would be better. We decided to officially cancel her party 2 weeks ago as it wasnt worth the risk.
On the other hand, we were supposed to go to an engagement party last weekend and they decided not to cancel. We didnt go and the videos I saw from the party showed a bunch of people indoors at a restaurant with zero masks in sight. Pretty scary if you ask me...
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We were in NYC so yes we know lots of people that had it. School closed because of one of my kids’ teachers. She was fine but her family member was not. We know whole families and coworkers etc. Huge variability in symptoms. For all we know we could have had it this winter.
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I'm not in the US and my province had it under control, for now, so I dont know anyone who has had it.
That being said, I'm terrified. We wear masks when we leave the house (which is rare). Barely have stepped foot in a store since march. We do online ordering and grocery pickup. We have been seeing family but will shut that down if necessary. No big parties.
Not only am I scared of being sick with this virus but we dont know anything about it. What if it stays with you forever like chicken pox and other viruses?
I've had "normal" pneumonia before and it took a long time to recover. Every cold I had following for maybe 2 years was awful with a terrible terrible cough. Dont want to experience that again and it would probably be worse with covid.
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@JennyLayneAZ: I'm so sorry, it really sucks
My dad is in an ICU now in a COVID hotspot, I don't think he is enough in his right mind to understand that things are different because of a raging pandemic versus that we for some reason don't care enough to be there. I don't know if I'll get to see him again, and just feel so sad about the situation - but it is what it is and I'm just trying to focus on making sure he gets the best care possible... As for masks and social distancing, I am also struggling not to feel incredibly stressed out about the rest of my family's hesitation to get on board. They'll take precautions around strangers but family/close friends are a different matter. I don't think it's selfishness, but more a psychological defense against having to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation, and the scary fact that you or your family/close friends could be infected with something that could kill you and you just have no idea. It's much less disconcerting to think that it's not that serious, or not that widespread, or that just hand washing and taking vitamins will protect you from it... I'm horrified that there's going to be an outbreak in my family, and I will have to choose between going to take care of them - to give them the maximum chance of pulling through okay - and my responsibility to my toddler, EBF infant who's never been away from me even for an afternoon, and the fact that I need to do everything I can to keep myself away from COVID because my kids need me... I am feeling sick with stress over the whole situation
Anyone else?
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@periwinklebee: oh man, that's so hard. T&P to your dad
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So sad - I'm in touch with a family in Saudi Arabia with limited resources and both parents and 2 young girls have it, in addition to the husband's in-laws. The 2 year old has a high fever and trouble breathing. And the poor mom is expected to care for everyone, including the in-laws, even though she is also sick. I'm worried about how good their healthcare is because they are not in a major city.
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@Chuckles: How awful... one of my worst parenting moments was taking care of everyone when we all had the flu (and mild cases, given that we'd all been vaccinated). I can't even imagine...
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My 5 year old just tested positive. Our sitter (who we didn’t know very well) ‘s roommate’s girlfriend tested positive, and we just got results back (6 day wait). So now we are supposed to like, isolate our already terrified kid! (We are quarantining but the health department basically suggested we lock her in her room and bring her food...hard nope). So far symptoms are mild - sore throats and a few coughs. No fevers.
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@Ms.Mermaid: Oh no! I’m sorry! Did the rest of your family test negative? And that’s crazy that they would expect you to isolate a 5 year old! Hope she feels better soon!
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@Ms.Mermaid: I’m so sorry! And omg, that was their best advice?! Yikes.
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@Ms.Mermaid: Omg, I’m so sorry!! My heart hurts at the thought of isolating my littles. They’d be so scared.
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My coworker’s sister had it early on and recovered. She’s a nurse.
My bil tested positive about a month ago and hasn’t had any symptoms. His coworkers had it and they required everyone to get tested. But even testing positive he never really isolated since he “felt fine”, besides the fact he wasn’t allowed to go into work for 2 weeks.
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@Miss Ariel: .....wow. That’s infuriating. Oh great, you feel fine! I guess that means you aren’t contagious! I would have lost my mind.
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@Miss Ariel: Wow. I mean I believe it that there are people who take this perspective that “I feel fine” means they can go about their business but still it’s shocking since it is so completely opposite of how I operate and what all the experts are telling people to do.
I mentioned before my friends teenage daughter who had it, but I do know many, many other people who have tested positive with a wide range of how it’s affected them. Friends in NYC who had it early, friends in California, definitely people here in FL where I live (ugh Florida whyyyy). Mostly people my age (30’s) in typically good health. I still see friends/family taking risks that right now I would NEVER take, like going to bars or dining in at restaurants or taking full on group vacations at resorts. It’s frustrating and makes me worried for them and their kids. But they’ll do what they want and we’ll stay home and try our best to stay the course until whenever this starts to get better.
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@erinbaderin: @lindseykaye: yes.... my bil, sil, mil, and their kids took our annual beach vacation last week. We (as in Dh and our kids) opted to stay home.
He also tested positive a couple days after Father’s Day which we had all spent together. I’ll just end there...
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We ended up testing everyone in a few of our plants in Texas and found out that 40% of the people in one of the them tested positive so we shut it down. Most were asymptomatic. In our line of work, the workers don't need to be that close to each other but they were all going out to the bars together after work. This caused a huge issue as we had to delay some things that were supposed to go live two weeks ago. But hey, bars.
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@agold:
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@smuckers: Thank you!
and that you haven't been able to do anything to celebrate her life yet. 
My dad is in an ICU now in a COVID hotspot, I don't think he is enough in his right mind to understand that things are different because of a raging pandemic versus that we for some reason don't care enough to be there. I don't know if I'll get to see him again, and just feel so sad about the situation - but it is what it is and I'm just trying to focus on making sure he gets the best care possible... 
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