Thread by @ObsoleteDogma

Day 2 of my wife feeling sick: low-grade fever, cough, chills. She has a co-worker, who she sometimes worked on the same floor with, who already tested positive for COVID-19.

You'd think this would make her a good candidate to get tested, but no. Still almost no testing in NY.

Her doctor doesn’t want her to come in, for fear of potentially infecting others. Same with Urgent Care. And she was advised not to get tested at an ER, because, if she doesn’t have it, there’s a good chance she’d get it there.

We need drive-through testing centers. Now.

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes. Also thanks to everyone who's let us know that there *is* a drive-through testing facility at Jones Beach in Long Island. We've been trying to make an appointment over the phone, keep getting disconnected after being on hold for an hour...

Why does getting tested matter so much? It’s not like it would change what the two of us are doing: we’re both quarantining, closely monitoring her status, and getting ready to go to the hospital if things get worse.

Part of it is just peace of mind, but the much larger part...

… is what it would mean for everyone my wife and I have been in contact with. They’d know to quarantine too.

If we’re going to avoid all being stuck in our houses for the next 2 years, we need to test everyone, quickly isolate the sick, and quarantine their contacts.

Update: After spending four hours on hold on the state health hotline last night, we got through today. They told us that they are currently triaging COVID-19 tests, and will call us back if they have a spot for us.

There are still nowhere near enough tests.

We finally got tested. I say "we" because I got sick last night too: fever, chills, cough, and just generally feeling fatigued.

The drive-thru testing center told us they had a spot tomorrow, but we found an Urgent Care that has tests and takes good precautions.

I’d just like to thank the doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers who did such a good job getting my wife and I tested today.

So much is about to be asked of them. They’re working around the clock, on the front lines of a war without the supplies they need.

Well, it was what we thought: My wife and I both tested positive for COVID-19.

We’re staying vigilant, but thankfully we’re both starting to feel a little better now.

Thought it might be helpful to share, what for us, have been some of the COVID-19 symptoms. It started for both of us with low-grade fevers that pretty quickly went away. Cough, somewhat curiously, hasn't been that bad for either of us.

The first night I got sick, my eyes felt really sore. The muscles in my legs ached liked I'd just worked out—that was the most persistent symptom for the first 72 hours. We both would get the chills every now and then.

My wife has lost her appetite and her sense of taste. Both are slowly coming back. Neither of those have happened to me yet, although she got sick a few days before me.

We both experienced shortness of breath yesterday, but aren't feeling it as much now.

The highest my fever got was 100.7 on the first night. It came down about half a degree every night after that until it went away (for now). The highest my wife's fever got was 100, also on the first night.

If you can still find one, I highly recommend buying one of those fingertip oxygen testers.

Being able to regularly check our oxygen levels has helped keep us sane when we were wondering how bad our shortness of breath was.

Just wanted to thank everyone again for all the well wishes. It means a lot to me and my wife. We're going to get through this, but we're staying vigilant until we do.

I hope you and your families are staying safe. Wash your hands! Don't go out unless you have to!