Help with understanding positive Covid test

[Creamegg11]

We’re participating in the office of national statistics survey where we get weekly Covid tests done for five weeks.

My husband’s first and second tests came back positive, third and fourth negative and then the recent fifth test, positive where he received a message from NHS track and trace to isolate.

I don’t think this is correct as I’m sure I read somewhere that the virus can linger in your body for some months and you shouldn’t get retested after a positive test for some months. Would anyone be able to clarify please? Thanks

They say you shouldn't do a test for 90 days after a positive because of viral shedding.

What Lougle said. It's pretty widely known so the fact that they are continuing to test your husband is bizarre.

That’s my thinking but as we are doing the ONS survey, they have been giving us weekly Covid tests and in return we get compensation by way of vouchers.

I just spoke to someone from the nhs track and trace team and they said that we would still need to isolate as it’s a positive result despite me explaining the background and saying that he has no symptoms, we already isolated in December and he even had his first dose vaccine on Friday.

Does anyone have a link to the 90 day wait before getting retested please? Was that from a NHS source? Thanks

Is there any way of contacting the ONS survey people to ask for sure what you need to do. Yes, they say not to test for 90 days. I remember last year when a couple from a cruise ship tested positive then negative and positive again. Also the 3 lads who were stuck in Italy for 3 months due to the same scenario.

I can’t find a link to the 90 days thing but when I went through my online form to detail where I had been etc when I tested positive it said I should not have another test for 90 days as it may continue to test positive.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-management-of-exposed-healthcare-workers-and-patients-in-hospital-settings/covid-19-management-of-exposed-healthcare-workers-and-patients-in-hospital-settings

This talks about staff and healthcare settings but does have the bit about not retesting within 90 days. Is it PCR tests you are doing?

Immunocompetent staff, patients and residents who have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 byPCRshould be exempt from routine re-testing (for example, repeated whole setting screening or screening prior to hospital discharge) within a period of 90 days from their initial illness onset or test (if asymptomatic) unless they develop new COVID-19 symptoms. This is because fragments of inactive virus can be persistently detected byPCRin respiratory tract samples following infection – long after a person has completed their isolation period and is no longer infectious.

Thanks. The weekly ONS test is a throat and nose tests that we do ourselves and then the ONS person takes the samples to the lab for testing.
Is that term classified asPCR testing? I’m not familiar with the different names for these tests.

Yes they will probably be PCR
Lateral flow are the ones where you get the result within a shorter period of time - pregnancy test style