It's just over a month since my family was hit by COVID-19. Thought I would make a thread on the entire experience, it may be useful for some. (thanks @andrew_croxford for the idea). *I posted this thread earlier but some of the dates were incorrect***

1. Having been busy and not really at home few days previously, I was made aware Tuesday the 30th of March that several in the house were sick and I suspected COVID-19. My 72 yr-old mom was particularly hard hit, being bedridden with a high fever, body aches and sore throat

2. Others had milder symptoms such as coughs and aches. Ages ranged from 17 to 48 years old. So far that was 5/7 showing symptoms and all went to test. We all began isolation that Tuesday afternoon. We also contacted EVERYONE we had been in contact with the week prior

3. The Wednesday 31st of March all the tests came back positive, and people's conditions began to worsen. My gf began to show clear symptoms now as well, but she had suffered from a 3-day migraine, which we didn't connect with COVID-19 initially, but was clearly her first symptom

4. My partner and I then tested on the Wednesday. I still had no symptoms and came up negative on the PCR test, my partner was positive, so that was now 6/7 in the house infected. My mom's condition worsened as she began to have nausea and diarrhoea

5. On the Thursday my mom was hospitalised as a precaution as the diarrhoea was worsening. Everyone else began worsening with breathlessness kicking in and fevers for my sister in law, niece, and partner. My brother and nephew had coughs. About 4 of them lost taste and smell

6. We made sure to consistently monitor O2 saturation, with no one ever dipping below 92% during the entire ordeal. Steroids helped and so did the prone position on bed to improve breathing. For aches and pains we all took paracetamol. The below image is exactly how we treated

7. Most were prescribed vitamin C, D and zinc, but I knew that was junk. I think doctors throw it at patients as a sort of "hail mary" hoping it will help. The steroids, paracetamol and proning are what really helped

8. I began showing symptoms just before Easter Sunday. Mine felt more like "allergies" with my eyes and nose burning and running throughout the day, I also had brain fog and the front of my skull felt "raw" (difficult to explain). I tested +ve on Tuesday the 6th of April.

9. So that was 7/7 infected in the household. My mom would go on to stay in hospital another 3 weeks, never requiring oxygen, but developing pneumonia and developing blood clots. She would also undergo surgery which was successful but healing was delayed due to the COVID-19

10. How the virus got in, I don't know. I have a few suspicions. One is that the kids got infected at school or with friends and brought it home the week prior. I heard about a couple of infections occurring at one of their schools around the same time we all got sick

11. Two other people outside our household would go on to get sick as well after contact with us prior to isolation. So that was a 9-person outbreak. This virus is crazy infectious, DO NOT underestimate it. Before we even knew what had happened most of us were infected and sick

end. I will say, it was a terrifying experience and this isn't a damn flu or cold. My partner who is 28 years old was bedridden, my 17 yr old niece was bedridden. My mom ended up in hospital for 4 weeks and is a shell of her formerself at this time, with many weeks recovery ahead