Snotty swab, negative result

[RLEOM]

My daughter is 2. She had Covid symptoms, including a snotty nose, so I booked her to be tested.

At the test centre, she had lots of mucus in her nose that I couldn't get rid of, so when I did the swab up her nose, all it got was thick mucus. They didn't let me do a throat swab. Her result came back negative so I didn't get a test when I got the same illness. However, her dad caught her cold and had the same symptoms as us (we're separated), got tested and had a positive test result!

Does mucus impact on the test result? Has anyone got a positive with only mucus?

I'm not sure but don't adults need to blow their nose first? This would suggest that a snotty nose would affect the result.

Hmm - current data on children's infections suggests two possibilities.

Young kids are remarkably resistant to contracting covid-19, despite having no prior immunity.
Young kids are less likely to test +ve when they have covid-19.

My money has always been on the latter.

Note - this is irrelevant to you, except that the -ve test may or may not have anything to do with the mucus.

If you're ill now, say you have a cough, go get yourself tested and find out if YOU'RE +ve.

I did a test where the swab ended up snotty and bloody - I got an inconclusive. I didn't test again because it was a home test ordered by Zoe so I was already past right days of symptoms by then.