If you have never tested positive for COVID...

[Anonymous]

I know with absolute certainty I’ve been exposed. I work in healthcare and for a while I was doing covid testing. I have not been sick the entire last year, have tested negative the handful of times I needed to be extra sure I wasn’t an asymptomatic carrier. I’ve come home every day and hugged my husband and kids and none of them have gotten sick.

Asymptomatic cases aren’t rare, but they are not as common as symptomatic.

[Anonymous]

I believe they will find eventually (if they haven't already?) that some people are genetically far more susceptible to catching the virus, irrespective of symptom severity. This would do a lot to explain families where one spouse ends up with a severe case, while the other never tests positive, despite them living in the same house together and breathing the same air before either knew that one of them was sick.

[Anonymous]

I tested positive for antibodies (as part of a research study) despite working from home and following all precautions, with no known exposure and never having any symptoms beyond the usual stuff I associate with my allergies (slightly sore throat and runny nose during pollen season). I have not once in the last year been within six feet of someone outside my immediate family without a mask, and have been inside a building besides my house only for a few doctor's appointments.

It's a test with a low false positive rate, so it's likely that at some point I had asymptomatic covid. If not for test, I would have been as confident as the other cautious PPs that I never had it. I think it's way, way more contagious than most of us can get our heads around.

[Anonymous]

I think if I was every asymptomatic, it would have to be last spring as things were shutting down or before masks (or even just wearing a bandanna) became widespread. Since then, I have only ever been inside with other people for brief periods of time, always wearing a mask and being careful to wash hands and keep my distance. The one exception was a trip to a computer store right after Christmas when I had to urgently replace my laptop and had to stay in the store for 40+ minutes and talk to many people in order to get what I needed. Everyone was wearing a mask, though, and people social distanced. And that's probably the height of my exposure.

So between negative tests for any symptoms and how careful we've been, I'd actually be pretty surprised if I had antibodies. And also vaguely annoyed because if I had Covid last March without knowing it, I definitely would have been slightly less cautious. It has been pretty hard to to be this careful and we've missed out on a lot.

[Anonymous]

I have no reason to think I've had it (and twice did asymptomatic testing, I had to take my kids for testing and got tested myself).

I work from home, but I'm out and about. I grocery shop a lot (feeding two growing teens), I shop for other purchases in-person, I've been to shopping malls. I eat inside restaurants.

One of my teens has a part-time food service job and had a possible exposure but tested negative. He has been in hybrid school since September. Played three sports so far this school year (one indoors) and one club (outdoor) sport.

My other teen has been virtual school until recently, but playing her club sport (indoors) since late summer.

Both teens have had friends over and been to friends' houses. Not the usual social scene for them, e.g., my high schooler would have been going to parties and seeing a lot more people, but we're not keeping them at home or away from friends.

Over the summer we had some extended family over (including two with front-line jobs), indoors and out. And had extended family indoors on two occasions over the winter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I tested positive for antibodies (as part of a research study) despite working from home and following all precautions, with no known exposure and never having any symptoms beyond the usual stuff I associate with my allergies (slightly sore throat and runny nose during pollen season). I have not once in the last year been within six feet of someone outside my immediate family without a mask, and have been inside a building besides my house only for a few doctor's appointments.

It's a test with a low false positive rate, so it's likely that at some point I had asymptomatic covid. If not for test, I would have been as confident as the other cautious PPs that I never had it. I think it's way, way more contagious than most of us can get our heads around.

Agree. I think the whole issue of who gets it and who doesn't is far more luck of the draw than most of us realize.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe they will find eventually (if they haven't already?) that some people are genetically far more susceptible to catching the virus, irrespective of symptom severity. This would do a lot to explain families where one spouse ends up with a severe case, while the other never tests positive, despite them living in the same house together and breathing the same air before either knew that one of them was sick.

There is some research showing that people with type A blood are more likely to catch it and more likely to have a severe case. I think that same research shows that people with type O blood are less likely to have a severe case but not sure if that also means they're less likely to catch it.

I'm sure there are other factors too that we just don't know about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe they will find eventually (if they haven't already?) that some people are genetically far more susceptible to catching the virus, irrespective of symptom severity. This would do a lot to explain families where one spouse ends up with a severe case, while the other never tests positive, despite them living in the same house together and breathing the same air before either knew that one of them was sick.

+100

I completely agree with this. I 100% know I’ve been exposed, multiple times, and should have contracted COVID. A family member had a symptomatic case staying with us last March and over Christmas my entire family stayed in a house with a family member who was symptomatic for COVID. No masks, indoors for days, no one else tested positive despite multiple tests. It made me not worry about contracting COVID at all, to be honest.

[Anonymous]

I've certainly had chances to be exposed (kids going to sports activities and seeing friends outdoors, DH working in an office, I regularly go grocery shopping). None of us has even had so much as a cold for a year so I don't think we've had it, unless the whole family could be completely asymptomatic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe they will find eventually (if they haven't already?) that some people are genetically far more susceptible to catching the virus, irrespective of symptom severity. This would do a lot to explain families where one spouse ends up with a severe case, while the other never tests positive, despite them living in the same house together and breathing the same air before either knew that one of them was sick.

I've been wondering about this. Are some people naturally immune to it? My brother-in-law is a firefighter in a less cautious state. Everyone that works in the firehouse eventually got it, except him. They were regularly tested, too. It seems impossible that he didn't get it. Of course, I'm not complaining. It just seems strange.

[Anonymous]

I recently gave blood and was negative for antibodies. I was a bit surprised honestly because I have multiple facets for exposure through family (and I have generally been out in society with precautions). I did have what sounded a lot like mild Covid in Feb 2020, but of course did not test back then so who knows...

[Anonymous]

Pretty sure my family (spouse, me, 2 kids) had covid March 2020 right when this all started but none of us were sick enough to be able to get a test and by the time the antibody test was available, my dr said it had been too long for us to be able to detect antibodies. I had it the worst w a bad, unrelenting cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, chills, throat pain, headaches and body aches that lasted several weeks (I am not someone who often gets sick and usually when I am sick it passes quickly so this was odd for me). My spouse had the body aches and a cough but not as bad as mine and his lasted about a week and a half. The kids basically just had a cold/very mild symptoms and were better within a few days. At the time I thought it was a cold but Ive never had a cold that severe or long lasting before. Possible exposure from briefly hanging out w a friend of a friend who had recently returned from traveling in Asia. But no one else in the group w that person (including the friend who was traveling in Asia herself) got sick. It was only later when they started talking about asymptomatic spreaders that I suspected it may have actually been covid that we had.

So we will never know for sure that we had it then but no illnesses since then. We have been very cautious—spouse and I WFH entirely, kids virtual school and no activities or play dates, none of us socialize in person w anyone besides close family members since this began, no restaurants or bars so in person shopping. The reason we have been so cautious is primarily so we could continue seeing my parents and my in laws and our siblings and their kids and not worry about exposing them. Out of all our family (which includes 18 people when you combine both sides) that we have continued to see during this time has gotten sick or had a known covid exposure since our nuclear family’s suspected covid illness in March 2020.

[Anonymous]

Haven’t had it. I am tested regularly for work and had antibodies test as part of a study. Negative there also. I have had random exposures, nothing unmasked. I also have kids who have been at college (no positives and they are tested weekly if not multiple times a week) and two kids who have been in school full time since the fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I recently gave blood and was negative for antibodies. I was a bit surprised honestly because I have multiple facets for exposure through family (and I have generally been out in society with precautions). I did have what sounded a lot like mild Covid in Feb 2020, but of course did not test back then so who knows...

Antibodies may not last that long, T-cells take over the job at a certain point.

[Anonymous]

I was exposed. DH and DS both had it and because we didn’t think it was more than a cold, DH’s testing was 5 days after my sons. They did not isolate from me, I slept in the same bed as DH, kissed him (before we knew it was COVID), and cleaned up after them. I either have some protection from a past coronavirus or I got really lucky. I had an antibody test done and I had none.

That said, I am type O blood and take high doses of vitamin D because without it, my levels are extremely low. So maybe that played into it as well.