I’d love to write today that I’m feeling fine. Unfortunately not. I slept deeply last night, apart from a few loo visits (that’s perfectly normal), but didn’t wake up this morning until 10 am. Unheard of for me. I’m usually waiting for Barry to wake up then give up and get up around 8 am. My throat felt as though a hot coal had escaped from our fire and got itself stuck down there. My neck glands were swollen. And I just felt drained.

Barry got up and made me a Lemsip with dandelion honey. I resigned from kitchen duties for the day and basically dozed on and off until 3 pm. Kim bless her is also still feeling crap, with a headache too. She did, however, open a carton of soup for me at lunchtime. I’ve not lost my appetite or sense of taste or smell.

My temperature remains normal, my voice is a little hoarse, and I have a slight tickle cough.

Is It COVID-19?

Who knows. Will we ever know? I’m uncertain. I guess that depends on how things go. It could just be a simple head-cold we’ve both got. Barry reckons he’s okay (so far!) because he’s spending more time outdoors than we are, so he’s getting his Vitamin D dose each day. He has a very good point!

I’ve checked into the Symptom Study today and reported my latest symptoms. It’s unlikely they’ll be emailing me again to go for a test, seeing as it’s been made impossible for whatever reason – well mainly because we don’t tick the ‘normal’ boxes!

However, as they say, testing alone won’t contain coronavirus.

Such a high percentage of tests come back negative, for a variety of reasons, even if you do have COVID-19, so it doesn’t inspire confidence. As this New York Times article states:

“Even with more testing, we are likely to be underestimating the spread of the virus. For now, we should assume that anyone could be carrying the virus. If you have had likely exposures and symptoms suggest Covid-19 infection, you probably have it — even if your test is negative. We should all continue to practice the behaviors — rigorous hand washing, not touching the face, social distancing — that impede its spread. And we need better information about the performance of these tests — including any new tests that are introduced — in the real world.”

If You Have Coronavirus Symptoms, Assume You Have the Illness, Even if You Test Negative – New York Times (Published April 1, 2020Updated April 27, 2020)

So we’ll have to assume we have it. Though little will change, we’re social distancing and staying put – apart from Kim and I won’t go into town for a couple of weeks …