What day were you LFT negative?

[Bizawit]

For those who kept testing- how long was it before your LFTs turned negative? I’m somewhere between day 5-7. I don’t particularly have any symptoms anymore (apart from fatigue, but tbf I am isolating with a 6 week old baby and a 2.5 year old) but I’m still getting blazing positives 😞. Feeling pretty low and anxious about it, as would have thought it would be at least fading by now..?

Keen to here others’ experiences…

My Dbro has a positive LFT on Tuesday (no symptoms) and then felt rough Wednesday to Xmas eve. Still had a faint positive yesterday but a clear negative this morning on day 5.

@NotSonicTheHedgehog

Question. As isolation ends on day 10 (if you don’t get the -ve LFT on day 6 and 7) what would happen if you took a LFT on day 10, had no symptoms but were still showing positive?

My understanding is that LFTs (and PCRs) pick up dead as well as live virus. In studies I read, no one was still emitting live virus after day 9... though those with more severe disease can be infectious for longer.

So a positive LFT days into an infection doesn't necessarily mean you're infectious, but if you get a negative I'm presuming it means you don't even have enough dead virus to register a positive test.

I never tested positive at any point on LFTs when I had Covid - I did 3. First one on the same day I got a positive PCR, second one 4 days later and another one on my last day of isolation. I can only concur I had a very low viral load? It's confusing. I possibly did them wrong but I did the PCR correctly as it detected a positive and it was exactly the same method.

Also day 6 and blazing here too

Son is day 6 and still positive. Didn’t come up straight away like his first one last Monday, so that is something. We had hoped to get out the house on Tuesday - but it is looking unlikely.

Infested negative on lateral flow day 6- when I was feeling much better. I was taking part in a medical trial and had a physical on day 7 which included a PCR test- I was told the following week it had come back negative, so I must have had a very mild case

Day 0 - pcr taken (positive)
Day 1 - lft negative

Day 2 - lft positive and minor symptoms began
Day 6 - lft stronger positive. Barely noticeable nasal congestion. That’s where I am now so I won’t be getting out early.

On day 10 , and still testing positive on Lateral Flow tests :(

@treeflowercat

My understanding is that LFTs (and PCRs) pick up dead as well as live virus. In studies I read, no one was still emitting live virus after day 9... though those with more severe disease can be infectious for longer

Where did you read that please. It would make a massive difference to the person in our house who is isolating. They have been symptom free for a few day but still have +lfts

I thought they had decided that a positive lft meant that you were likely to be infectious (or at least a negative meant you were unlikely to be). So allowing people out when they have a positive pcr doesn't make much sense.
Mind you, not many of the rules make much sense.

Day 6 and first day positive LFT all mine have been negative. Did pcr day1 that was positive (LFT negative)

Day 12 and still positive LFT, not even faint, proper positive

Grandmotherschina

What you gonna do? You gonna go out? X

I work in care and the rules were that you can go out after day 10 as long as you were not actively symptomatic like coughing and sneezing. It always seemed a bit risky as staff would come back after 10 days doesn’t matter if you having a positive LFT as they say it won’t be active virus. That’s why you don’t then test for 3 months in care/nhs.
I’m just coming out of my last 3 month not testing so will start again when go back to work.
Personally I feel 7 days is too short but we can’t do this indefinitely for years we have to stop soon as more get vaccinated and boosted. I hope they stop the testing once this wave has passed.

@Queenoftheashes

Day 0 - pcr taken (positive) Day 1 - lft negative Day 2 - lft positive and minor symptoms began Day 6 - lft stronger positive. Barely noticeable nasal congestion. That’s where I am now so I won’t be getting out early.

Sorry to say @Queenoftheashes but if you were asymptomatic when you had a positive pcr and later develop symptoms then your isolation period restarts from that day www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/self-isolation-and-treatment/how-long-to-self-isolate/

DS had symptoms Friday before last, tested positive on lateral flow that evening (hadn't done a test for at least a few days previously). So that was counted as his day 0. Pcr positive the next day. Lateral flow still positive on day 6 (last Thursday) but negative Friday and yesterday (days 7 and 8) so he's now released from isolation.
No one else has caught it, despite not isolatinf him at home at all, other than not eating dinner at the table with us.

I tested positive in late September and the advice then was not to take LFT for 3 months unless symptomatic.

Currently 33weeks pregnant on day 7 and still getting positive Lat flows, still have symptoms too though.

@Waxonwaxoff0

I never tested positive at any point on LFTs when I had Covid - I did 3. First one on the same day I got a positive PCR, second one 4 days later and another one on my last day of isolation. I can only concur I had a very low viral load? It's confusing. I possibly did them wrong but I did the PCR correctly as it detected a positive and it was exactly the same method.

I am exactly the same, Positive pcr nothing on lft. Which makes me wonder what I should do about getting out on day 7 if lft is negative.

Sorry to say @Queenoftheashes* but if you were asymptomatic when you had a positive pcr and later develop symptoms then your isolation period restarts from that day www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/self-isolation-and-treatment/how-long-to-self-isolate/*

I think that’s been badly written. The bit about restarting isolation from the day of symptoms refers to the paragraph above which is close contacts who are self isolating and go on to develop covid.

@itscoldinhere

Also not sure if it makes a difference either but I was totally asymptomatic. I wonder if they recover quicker? Totally anecdotal info.

My sibling was very unwell for 4 days. Woke up day 5 feeling much better and tested (boredom?!). It was negative.

Day 7 they announced the new change! Did another and left the house and walked around the block - just because he could 🤣🤣

day -1 - neg LFT (regular testing day for work)
day 0 - symptoms (sore throat) & -ve LFT
day 1 - +ve LFT
day 2 - +ve PCR
days 6 - +ve lft (no symptoms)
day 7 - very faint +ve LFT
day 8 - -ve LFT
day 9 - -ve LFT

London so presumed omicron. Colleague still +ve LFT at day 17, has been only mildly symptomatic for first 4 days. All triple vaccinated.

Adult DS still positive on day 7, only symptom was a mild rash, which he only realised might be covid when his friend tested positive so he got a test.

Gosh there’s a really wide variation it seems. So sorry to those who are day 10 plus and still getting positives 😫. I’m hopeful for my test again tomorrow. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🙏🏻. Even if I get a fainter line I’ll be happy. I just want to feel like I’m making some kind of progress 😫

Colleague still +ve LFT at day 17, has been only mildly symptomatic for first 4 days

😱😱. God I hope this isn’t me..