Three weeks ago I didn't find Covid, it found me. I tested positive for Covid, but I was feeling poorly days before I took the test and thought I had flu and which is why it took me longer to test.
Please continue to test
Please continue to test, but testing too soon can show a negative, before a positive test. My experiences show that if you have been exposed to someone with Covid, they need to be given time for the test to accurately show they have Covid. If they test too soon, the test can show negative, which can turn out to be false negative. The person I was in contact with who thought he was negative, was actually positive.
Finally testing negative
Four days later I tested positive, by which time I was already exposed to the virus. Nineteen days on, and I was able to produce a negative test. Does the virus leave the body once you test negative, or like others viruses, is it something you live with, and is it something that lies dormant? These are my questions.
We need to understand Covid more
More research is needed to understand the virus and what happens to the virus when you test negative. We know we can still catch and spread Covid. Is it because the virus hasn’t left the body and meeting someone who is newly infected, can reinfect? How does this virus really work?
In the meantime the world is ignoring the fact the virus is still out there. No precautionary measures are in place and we're still falling foul of the virus. What is it also going to take for attitudes to change?
I caught Covid in early December and while I tested negative after about 8 days, I am still short of breath and coughing 3 weeks on and I suspect it will be a few more weeks before I am fully recovered.
As you say it still hasn't gone away, but we have to resume normality in our lives and unfortunately that comes at the price of exposure to the virus.
For most people that seems to be a price worth paying and I can understand that. I will continue to be more cautious.
I also caught Covid 3 years into Covid. I'm not sure how I would have faired in the early days, being high risk and immune compromised, but it took 19 days to finally produce a negative test.
I too understand it is important that we are able to live our lives, but it's also remiss of us to think life is back to normal, because it's not.
Living with the virus, should mean being sensible with our choices and remembering we're also having to deal with the virus.
And whilst it has moved on, and its current mutation is less dangerous, you can still continue to catch and spread the virus.
The science is clear and yet we're choosing to ignore it and that will always come at a cost.