After two years of successfully evading getting COVID-19, I recently tested positive. I ended up having a lot of questions.
“This isn’t like a small fraction of people who are still positive and infectious at five days,” Mina says. One possible explanation for these observations is that people who are vaccinated or have been previously infected have a quicker immune system response to the virus. So initial symptoms are caused by your immune response, not a high viral load, which comes later. “I would highly, highly, highly recommend people not listen to the five-day-to-exit-isolation recommendation,” Mina says.
Instead, experts say, the best way to figure out whether you’re contagious after day five is by taking a rapid at-home test, which measures the amount of viral proteins in your system in real time. You can even get a sense of how infectious you are by the intensity of the positive line on your test, and the speed at which it develops. If your positive line appears quickly, chances are you have an extremely high viral load.
But because it takes a lot of virus for the tests to turn positive, “you should assume that you’re infectious” if any line shows up, Mina says. Even after you’ve tested negative , still avoid high-risk activities, like visiting an elderly relative. By my 12th day in, my symptoms were mostly gone but for a lingering cough and a new proclivity for napping. But I was still testing positive on my rapid test, even though the line was much fainter than it used to be.
I wish there was an on-off switch. But, like with most things in this pandemic, it’s a squishy gray area. For all the public health recommendations, personal navigation of this virus comes down to individual everyday decisions. We hold a lot of power, and often, it feels like,
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Covid-19: Nine Covid-related deaths and 387 in hospitalThe total number of deaths linked to Covid-19 in NI since the start of the pandemic is 3,402.
Read more »
Why the Rise of Rapid Tests Makes COVID-19 Case Counts Hard to TrustCountless cases are being missed
Read more »
Woman accused of selling negative COVID-19 tests to travelers at Salt Lake City airportA woman is facing charges after allegedly running a scheme that charged travelers hundreds of dollars to receive a counterfeit negative COVID-19 test at the Salt Lake City International Airport.
Read more »
Stephen Colbert, host of 'the Late Show,' tests positive for COVID-19Television host Stephen Colbert has tested positive for COVID-19, he announced Thursday.
Read more »
Covid-19: Free PCR tests to end for most people in NILateral flow tests remain free for those displaying Covid-19 symptoms or visiting high-risk settings.
Read more »
The Long Tail of COVID-19 for Our Romantic RelationshipsThe pandemic brought couples closer together. Now we're beginning to forget the lessons lockdown offered. Here's what you can do to stay close to your partner, even as life gears back up, writes LewandowskiPhD
Read more »