"Basically everyone has had covid"

No, actually. There have been enough covid infections that everyone *could* have had an infection. Plenty of people haven't had covid, while others have had it a stupid amount of time, and here's a poll to prove it

Have you had covid?

Definitely had covid
47.6%
Probably had covid
7.6%
Probably not had covid
24.4%
Definitely not had covid
20.4%
Poll ended at .
@eniko I say "probably" because it's hard to prove a negative, but I'd be very surprised if it turns out I've had it. If so, I definitely haven't noticed it, which seems odd.
@Tijn if you've never noticed anything and haven't been in a position where you could've gotten an asymptomatic infection (i.e. you know you were exposed but seemed fine) then you can probably vote "definitely not"
@eniko If it was a yes/no question, I've would have said no for sure.

@eniko @Tijn

This would have been me, but I've had symptoms of *something* lately that look an awful lot like long covid. If it really is that, then it would have had to come from my roommate or from a mask leak. I don't go out of my apartment without an N95 on because if my bipap got infected, it would keep reinfecting me indefinitely.

@Tijn @eniko "you can probably vote definitely" made me smile.
@basil @Tijn my momma always told me i had a way with words 😊

@eniko I say "probably had" because my wife and I both got sick with COVID-like symptoms way back before there were tests available! She had just started a new job in February, and her co-workers had just returned from a trip to South Korea and *some respiratory illness* swept through the whole office.

Less than a month later, we were all told to work from home.

@eniko Meant to say probably had.

Also probably had *some* Long Covid symptoms. But hard to tell cuz brain fog, fatigue & ilk were very much also a part of my depression for years. Meds made that better. So even if I get those symptoms, it's small fry compared to what I experienced before.

So yeah. Honestly difficult to tell.

@eniko
I've very likely not had it, and I've been an essential worker for the entire duration. The notion that it's been this utterly universal thing is so weird to me
@eniko if I’ve had it, I’ve been asymptomatic. Haven’t been ill with anything remotely covid-like (and barely at all, for 3 years, yay masking!)

@eniko
Alas, I have had it. Once, and I got it from a funeral. The Antiviral tastes like shit, but works wonders. I felt better after the first pill, though I took the whole run. Last think I want to do is create supercoivd by being a dumbass.

Still masking at work and I've not been sick since.

@eniko I don't *think* I've had Covid, but it's hard to be sure. I was suspiciously sick for a couple of days in February. I tested negative, but that doesn't mean much anymore.

@eniko went with "probably not". Could have missed an asymptomatic case, not sure.

An ex had a probable case in very early 2020 when everything was still uncertain and there wasn't easy access to test kits yet, but I didn't seem to catch it. Never verified.

@eniko Maybe: I got the lose of Taste&Smell + sever insomnia (learned to treat it with hawthorne) twice this year. I'm guessing maskleak (ffp3 ;_;) for the first one, second cause at Work half the staff (Open Office, ~30folks) was sick and my t2d still had not adjusted yet to the new "Go to Work" schedule so I had to eat >_<
("Love" the workethic of coming to Work coughing and sneezing.. .. ) Never tested + , semi-fully vaxxed (Oktober was the last one)

Looking forward to FU1 and especially FU2

@eniko I've had Covid 3 times. Maybe even a 4th time. It was horrible every time. And I am certain its effects still linger to this day
@Arxosnox I'm sorry
@eniko At least I didn't have long Covid. Only ones that lasted about 1 to 2 weeks. But I was practically bedbound for a good chunk of the time
@eniko I got very sick a month prior to Covid being announced as in my state (it was still something outside of the US back then). They ran multiple tests but it came back as an unknown viral infection. I isolated for the 2 1/2 weeks and then covid was everywhere so I just didn't leave my apartment for like a year and a half. Whatever it was it kicked my ass very hard, but not as hard as the 2nd vaccine did, lol, but it lingered and made me very weak. The boosters also sucked but it's better than having actual covid as I know 3 people who died from it. Oh and no I did not have the antibodies in my blood for Covid prior to the vaccine according to one test so I most likely didn't have it. But whatever I did have was absolutely dreadful.

@eniko No, I haven't. My eldest son hasn't. That's because we isolated hard, and still mostly do, and still mask in public. My kid has a metal bar in his chest between his sternum and his heart to correct his sternum and coughing is painful for him so we are being super cautious.

My youngest is still in high school and did get COVID last year though he wears masks to school. Luckily he was at his father's for the week and didn't bring the plague home with him to my place.

@UziBobuzi hope you and your son continue avoiding it

@eniko

Can't say for sure, unless I pay for that antibody test that specifically detects former infections rather than vaccinations.

Either I had covid with minor symptoms in early 2020, or maybe I just had a cold.

Back when we were most all maskless, but washing our hands repeatedly like chumps.

@eniko I have not had Covid at any point. I'm able to work from home and am a mega introvert, so that definitely helped.
@eniko Only reason why i didn't answer *definitely not* is that maybe the bad cold i got at the very start of the pandemic was covid. But at the time there were maybe a few dozen confirmed cases in the country.
@eniko i had a viral chest infection in January of 2020, no way of confirming it was COVID but nothing I've had prior to it went on to tank my lung capacity for the next couple of months.
Since then I'm certain I've not caught it. In fact due to me masking up I've barely been sick at all these past 3 years.
@eniko
I think I have not. Never any symptom, tested negative every time I was in contact... (and always tested when I knew I was in contact)

@eniko I had it before it was cool

(2 weeks before lockdown started, before any vaccinations existed, and before those plastic things that you shove up your arse or whatever)

@eniko I said probably not before I saw your post saying I could probably definitely vote definitely didn’t. 😅
@eniko had at least two confirmed exposures where i felt quite sick after but test negative. So I'm at "probably yes but 🤷"
@WorthyOpponent fwiw it can take a week of daily rapid tests for it to turn positive, they have an incredibly high false negative rate
@eniko for the first one i also had a normal (non-rapid) test come back negative, even after my doc said "its probably covid, we'll just test to be sure" so idk.

@eniko I haven't had it, to the best of my knowledge.

I'm the only person who masks at work, and the only person in my team who hasn't had it. Until they forced me to go into the office, I was still operating under a bubble model.

Now I want to socialize and have done so in a very limited sense, but my risk budget is coercively used by work, so I'm still functionally isolated when it comes to people I want to see.