Catching COVID from someone in household - is there a common time for second person's symptoms to appear?

[RockingMyFiftiesNot]

My friend's young adult DS lives at home. He started with COVID symptoms last Wednesday and had a positive lateral flow, positive PCR on Thursday. Friend is petrified she is going to catch it and I can understand why, especially as she has been ultra cautious this whole time.
She was saying hopefully if she hasn't got symptoms by now she will be ok. I didn't say this to her, but am thinking given that people have to isolate for 10 days from symptoms/positive test, I assume she could develop COVID any time during those 10 days?
But then that got me wondering if there was a 'common period of time' after contact for when most people started to show symptoms (eg 5-6 days after contact OR is it spread fairly evenly right up to day 10?)

Not sure is can explain what I mean any clearer so hope you can understand the question !

if you are pretty sure you know where you picked it up from (eg in this case it has to be from her son because she hasn't been anywhere or had contact with anyone else), how long after their being diagnosed did you start to show symptoms? Or if you have medical knowledge of the virus could you comment? Not sure if I will say anything to her anyway but I am obviously worried for her too as she has only had one vaccination, by her own admission not that fit and is early 60s.

He would have been most infectious up to 2 days before he started developing symptoms. The fact that she’s had her first vaccine that will definitely help if she were to catch it from him.

Thank you @Mindymomo. Main question then is how long after that would it take friend to show symptoms/test positive? Could it really be any time during the 10 days she is isolating or is it more likely to be 5-6 as she seems to think.

DH started off with a headache/temp on the Monday night, by the next day dd and I had symptoms so it was quick. He thinks he got it off someone he works with who had a cough. We think this was the Kent variant though as it was running rife in December. My youngest then got it about 2 days after.

I started to show symptoms 3 days after I was in the place I think I caught it.

It's worth mentioning though that throughout I shared a bed with DH and didnt isolate from my kids and none of them caught it.

Thank you both. I hope you and your families made a speedy recovery.

I caught covid off my daughter 12 days into the 14 day isolation. Dh remained completely covid free.

That is scary @Rowgtfc72 as isolation is now only 10 days.

I started the to feel tired about 5-6 days after my husband got symptoms then got symptoms a few days afterwards. So probably about 8 days after.

Two basic possibilities here:

• they both catch it from the same contact, in which case they'll come down with it within a very short time of each other. Incubation periods vary, but if they were exposed at the same time, it won't be that much.

Because incubation period is like a bell curve, so most people will fall under the peak

• he caught it elsewhere and she potentially catches it from him. He is infectious in the 48 hours or so before symptoms begin, then it peaks in first couple of days, remain infectious for as long as his viral load is high enough (uncertain, may depend on severity) ebbing as days pass and symptoms subside. Incubation period is typically 4-6 days (range 2-14)

So say she was infected 24 hours or so before his symptoms showed, and was a typical 5 days incubating, then she'd have been coming down with it about now. But if she caught it as his symptoms were appearing, and it was 6 days incubating, then it wouldn't show until tomorrow. Or it could be later.

It's always uncertain in biological systems!

TL:DR - you can't ever be sure. So respect the 10 day isolation.

Thank you so much @UnmentionedElephantDildo .she can't have for it from anyone else as she hasn't seen anyone or done anything and he's a teacher.

So bottom line is she could still get it right up to the end of isolation?

My eldest got a positive LFT on Xmas day and mild symptoms a couple days later. Her sister got symptoms on New Year’s Eve. I didn’t catch it at all (negative test and later a negative antibody test) and neither did their youngest sister. All in same household and we didn’t social distance within the house.

It is so interesting how this virus is so contagious that we have had to shut down for over a year, and yet people in the same household don't always catch it.

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to write about your experiences. I hope my friend is a little less panicky when I speak to her today.

Not to panic her more but she could also have it asymptomatically so wont have symptoms.
Frequent handwashing and 10 days isolation . 2 out of 4 of us in the house had symptoms and tested positive. I'm fairly sure 1 of those without symptoms was the one who passed it to us. The other either iddnt catch it despite no distancing at all or also was asymptomatic

But we were all fine after feeling rough for a while so tell her to try not to worry

RockingMyFiftiesNot

You might be interested in this article

www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/09/k-overlooked-variable-driving-pandemic/616548/

(or one of the many other articles on the K number) as it explains how it can there can still be high transmission even when so many people barely pass it on.

Gaps of 5 days and 7 days in my family so it can take longer.

DH caught it from work (care home, major outbreak) Christmas week. He was in work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday (Christmas Day).

He had a stuffy nose over the weekend and started with the cough Monday night. I had a stuffy nose Tuesday/Wednesday and started coughing Thursday morning.

My betting is he became infected on the Thursday, and infected me Saturday/Sunday.

Don't forget your friend could get it and be asymptomatic. It's more common than people realise. That's what happened to me when my DP caught Covid last year. He only had a mild case, and I didn't isolate from him, so I fully expected to get it, but didn't. Months later DP tested for antibodies and suggested I do so, too. We both had them, I had more than he did!

Thank you, she's a worrier at the best of times but seems to have convinced herself she'd have had it by now if she was going to get it. Seems that's not necessarily the case but maybe I let her think that to give her peace of mind for now. She has to isolate for 10'days so won't be a danger to anyone else even if she is asymptomatic (not that she goes anywhere anyway).

We know exactly who we got it from! Daughter visited 4-6 April. She started feeling off evening of the 6th, tested positive on 8th.

5 of us were in house with her: 3 of us had a slight sore throat and runny nose on 8th when we heard her news. We tested negative on LFTs on the 9th, but positive on 12th, confirmed by PCR. The other two didn't get it. (One of whom had it 6 months previously, and the other was 3 weeks post 1st vaccination)

I was also 3 weeks post vaccination, and my symptoms were very mild, as were the two teens. No coughs, no temperatures.

I hope your friend will be fine

I got ill exactly 5 days after exposure and then my husband got ill exactly 5 days later. Dd didn't catch it at all despite being stuck in with both of us being very contagious.