I'm starting to cough.

I never cough. I may need to take a medical day off work. Can I do that without letting them think I have COVID-19?

They are mostly Democrats. I don't entirely trust the lot of them. Some are Republicans, but it's hard to trust them too nowadays. How do I protect myself here?

I'm really not looking for any "help" from the government or my employer in the form of aborted fetal baby injections, etc.