Can you go out after the ten days' isolation even if you're still testing positive?

[sadpapercourtesan]

Disclaimer - I wouldn't. The virus has hit me like a truck, made me feel really rotten and I wouldn't risk giving it to anyone else.

Just curious about the rules, as it seems a little woolly. If you've completed your mandatory 10 days' isolation but you're still ill, or still testing positive on LFT, can you go out and about?

I think you're supposed to stay home as long as you have symptoms but can go out if you're still testing positive. That was definitely the rule the last I knew.

yes

Sorry, only read your title, not the full post

You can return to your normal routine and stop self-isolating after 10 full days if your symptoms have gone, or if the only symptoms you have are a cough or anosmia, which can last for several weeks. If you still have a high temperature after 10 days or are otherwise unwell, stay at home and seek medical advice.

I'm wondering the same. I was negative on lateral flow yesterday, but positive again today (day 10) and feel crap still. I'm googling with no clear answer on whether I'm likely to be infectious or not.

@TooWicked has posted the official advice. You can stop LFT after day 10 and, so long as you feel well and your only symptoms (if any) are a cough or change of sense of smell/taste then you can go about your daily business as normal.

I have seen advice suggesting that you should perhaps take extra care with mask wearing, avoiding crowds and close contact etc for another day or two and I certainly would be doing that if still testing positive. That said, it is possible to test positive when you have stopped being infectious and the consensus seems to be that 10 full days of isolation from the start of symptoms (or a positive test, whichever is earlier) will take you past the period of being infectious.

The safest policy has to be to isolate until you feel better and have a negative LFT. But given the shortage of LFTs and the lack of requirement to test after day 10 I would think the most sensible course of action is to isolate until you feel up to going out.

Hope you feel better soon.

@sadpapercourtesan

Disclaimer - I wouldn't. The virus has hit me like a truck, made me feel really rotten and I wouldn't risk giving it to anyone else.

Just curious about the rules, as it seems a little woolly. If you've completed your mandatory 10 days' isolation but you're still ill, or still testing positive on LFT, can you go out and about?

@TooWicked is correct.

The test can pick up dead virus... so any positives by day 10 are very likely to be due to dead virus. In studies I've seen reported, no one emitted live virus after day 9 (though it's still possible if you're badly affected by Covid and remain feverish).

Yes, you don’t need to keep mindlessly testing. It’s a waste of tests. Get back out there!

I’m jealous, I’m on day 6 and had a feint neg today

I thought you're mainly infectious a couple of days before symptoms start and 2-3 days thereafter?

@BalladOfBarryAndFreda we're not "mindlessly testing", we're being cautious because my elderly father's partner needs to come and collect him from isolation as soon as it's safe for her to be around us. And we have oodles of spare LFTs because the kids' college foisted them on us last term when they were making students test every day. Nobody wants the tests back, despite the shortage.

Yes, you can be positive for months, hence why the original guidance was not to test for 90 days after a positive result unless you developed symptoms. It took me about 8 weeks to get a negative test.

Yes, my parents were ill for 6 weeks but were given the all clear by the Covid clinic to go out after about 2 weeks as their fevers had gone and they were still symptomatic but no longer contagious.