This has really hit home for me. I'm pretty sick with a 102 fever, cough, and aches. My guess for various reasons is that it's influenza A, but there are reason

This has really hit home for me. I'm pretty sick with a 102 fever, cough, and aches. My guess for various reasons is that it's influenza A, but there are reasons to think it's not crazy to think it's COVID19. The issue is that there's this kind of positive feedback loop about getting tested. If you have symptoms consistent with COVID19, you're told it's probably the flu and no need to go in and get tested unless you're high-risk. People always say "have there been identified cases of COVID19 near you?" The answer is basically "not that I know of," but if everyone is staying home and not getting tested so as to not panic and overburden the system, you don't know. As a result, it will look like nothing's there until suddenly there's a de novo case that can't be traced to Asia, Europe, or anywhere else that's had large numbers of cases. Then it's too late and is everywhere. I understand the base rates, and that I probably don't have COVID19, but I don't really have faith in assessments of where things are at if people are rarely getting tested anyway.