Posting this in case it helps anyone, but also as a cautionary tale: My husband found out on Wednesday morning that he had tested positive for Covid, based on a PCR test he took Monday morning at work (he works in TV on a set and they are tested 3X/week).

We don’t know where he got it. Until Monday his show had been on hiatus since Dec. 18, so work is out. He had no known exposures. Our nanny, our son and I have all tested negative and have no symptoms, so it seems extremely unlikely that we gave it to him.

He is always masked and we have been incredibly conservative about what we do. We haven’t left LA County since last February. I can count on one hand the number of times we’ve seen friends (always masked). We are careful. But.

We do go to the grocery store, and at some point in the week before he tested positive, he had gone to Guitar Center. (If you know my husband, it should not shock you that the place where he potentially, briefly let down his guard was a guitar store.)

He had only been wearing surgical masks but at some point last week started wearing some fancy cloth masks he had ordered. We believe he was wearing a cloth mask when he went to Guitar Center.

Of course, we have no proof and no way of ever knowing for sure, but it seems like this is probably where he got it.

So, two things. One, non-essential retail stores should go back to being pickup only. At the very least, just bc they’re open does not mean you should go to them. Two, I think a lot of us were lulled into a false sense of security with cloth masks.

All that said, he seems to have a mild case. It started with a headache and feeling sinus pressure. He lost taste and smell the night before he found out he was positive. He hasn’t had a fever or a cough. He says he just feels really, really tired.

He’s on day 7 of symptoms — we are assuming the headache he had last Sunday, which we thought was just a headache, was his first symptom. So hopefully the worst is over. Certainly he does not seem to be getting worse, but he doesn’t feel great.

We’re lucky that our house is set up for easy quarantining. He’s in our bedroom and using the bathroom connected to it. I’m sleeping on the pullout sofa in the playroom and using the bathroom adjacent to it. We wear surgical masks in the house.

We are roughly following the Marik protocol. He’s taking high doses of vitamin D and C, zinc, and Quercitin, along with an antacid, and mucinex at night. We have a pulse ox and a thermometer and I ask him for his vitals every few hours.

I’m also taking vitamins D and C, zinc, and quercitin. So far I have no symptoms but I know I’m not out of the woods yet. If I get it we’re screwed, childcare-wise, because my husband has to go back to work.

In the meantime I’m taking care of our son and attempting to meet 2 big work deadlines and do my podcasts and try not to wake up panicked at 4am. It’s ... a lot.

Anyway. I hope this helps someone, and is a reminder that this fucking virus is really everywhere and does not mess around. /fin