With so much coverage about everything 'corona', we now know exactly what to look for when diagnosing the novel COVID-19 virus. But do these symptoms ring a bell for an illness you experienced in December or January? Severe cough, shortness of breath, fatigue?

Because the virus originated in Wuhan in mid-November of 2019 but wasn't reported to the World Health Organization until weeks later, people (viral Facebook posts) have been speculating that they know they must have had coronavirus towards the end of December/beginning of January. Science, however, says you likely didn't.

According to a report from Snopes.com the fact checking, and usually accurate, truth-detecting website, scientists believe you may have had a really nasty upper respiratory infection, but it most likely wasn't COVID-19. Even if you tested negative for influenza and were sick for a full 14 days, most experts are hesitant to assert that you had COVID-19.

The problem with these viral (no pun intended) Facebook posts of people stating they 'must have already had it', is that it institutes a false sense of security that not only did they get it and survive, but that they must now be immune to it. And that simply, sadly, likely isn't the case.

So no matter if you were sick just after the new year or not, if you didn't get a positive test from a medical professional on COVID-19, it is best to assume that you did NOT have it, and that if social distancing and state mandates aren't followed, you potentially still could.

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