Perhaps as a result of the speed with which certain parts of the country are re-opening, a lot of people seem to have wound up with the impression that the coronavirus has been canceled.
Or at least that pandemic winding its way toward its end, and there's no need to take any further precautions.
But as Jill Duggar and her family learned the hard way this week, that assumption is dangerously inaccurate.
Jill captioned the above photo on Instagram:
"Well...we did it...a few weeks ago we got tested for the Coronavirus after developing several of the symptoms."
"Swipe up in my stories or visit our blog (link in bio) if you want the details and aren’t too grossed out to see me getting tested/just want to see what it’s like," she added.
According to the Dillards' blog, the entire family "suddenly started running fevers and had body aches and some of the other symptoms consistent with the coronavirus."
Wow.
No doubt some fans were stunned by Jill's revelation, as it's been rumored that Jim Bob Duggar believes the coronavirus is a hoax.
The Duggars usually fall in line with their patriarch's belief system, although "usually" isn't necessarily the usual nowadays.
In recent months, there's been an open rebellion against Jim Bob within the family, and Jill has become its de facto ringleader.
The feud between Derick Dillard and Jim Bob has only intensified as of late.
If you thought she was conflicted, maybe she is, but at least in public forums, Jill has made it perfectly clear that she sides with her husband over her father.
And so, for the very first time, Jim Bob's kids are free to disagree with him.
So Jill and Derick social distanced, even while the rest of the Duggars ignored safety guidelines.
In various cases, we saw the family continue to gather in large groups with reckless abandon.
But even those who exercise caution are susceptible to COVID-19, and so, when the Dillards began to show symptoms, they knew just what to do.
"Derick and I (Jill) got tested for coronavirus and our results came back negative a few days later," Jill wrote on her website.
"However, while continuing to quarantine, some of the symptoms persisted and a few more developed."
"So we went back and this time they just retested me," she added.
"Those results also came back negative a few days later. We continued quarantining ourselves for the rest of the recommended time just to be safe."
For the sake of her followers' edification, Jill decided to pull no punches in documenting the testing process.
She posted the video below, and as you can see, it appears that she endured quite a bit of discomfort:
"With testing becoming more and more regular, we figured sharing our personal experience and a couple videos about getting tested could be helpful to others," Jill wrote.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been greatly impacted by and/or lost loved ones due to the coronavirus."
Fortunately, unlike most stories that involve a long Q-tip up the nose, this one has a happy ending.
"P.S. We are all well now, praise the Lord!" Jill wrote on Instagram.
Jill's experience serves as a reminder that we're not out of the woods yet with regard to coronavirus.
So please continue to take the proper precautions.
Remember - if you start showing symptoms, the best case scenario is that you'll get good news from the people who subject you to a painful facial probe.
It's much easier to just wear a mask.
