It could be a mild cold, so continue to practice defensive hygiene and avoid close contact with others. If you can stay home, that’s the most effective way to avoid transmission. No one should seek early exposure to the virus. Even under dire forecasts, a sizable fraction of the population will avoid getting sick. A virus that is perhaps ten times deadlier than the seasonal flu will have more severe symptoms than the seasonal flu. But if you do need medical care, its good that it is relatively early. Things are going to be messy in April and May. Here’s an interview with a recovered patient that outlines his symptoms as his infection progressed. He is in isolation but looks healthy, is exercising and painting and studying Russian. Prepare for a few weeks of recovery, make sure bills are paid. Try to stay positive and practice gratitude. Recovery rates are around 99%, and reinfection appears to be rare. Take care of yourself, try to eat and sleep well. We will all OD on information, so take offline breaks. Be well, best wishes and please let us know how you fare.
> A virus that is perhaps ten times deadlier than the seasonal flu will have more severe symptoms than the seasonal flu. Not necessarily. If you think of symptom severity as a bell curve, Covid-19's symptom severity bell curve center could be further to the right, but also have fatter tails. There is evidence for this since some people are asymptomatic.
Agreed, it's not necessarily true that every person with Covid-19 will suffer more than every person with seasonal flu (many of who might also be asymptomatic). The seasonal flu is already bad enough to be worth avoiding, and the higher risk of fatality, and the risk of communicating to vulnerable people, argue against casually considering this new bug just another kind of flu.
Cheers, wasoxygen. I'm not particularly anxious. That said, we had a prominent case here earlier this week involving a GP who tested positive after developing "a mild cold", so I won't take any chances. Will see about getting tested tomorrow.