Lateral Flow Negative, but Positive PCR?

[morbidd]

Hello all,

Is this a common thing? My partner has been having symptoms of omicron since the 29th of December but the lateral flows are negative.

She has such a bad headache with it and has agreed to do a PCR as we believe sometimes the lateral flows can be wrong. However, she's done one each day? 🤷‍♀️

Is this normal?

Yes. PCR test are more sensitive.

Some people may never be infectious enough for an LFT to detect it. But they still have Covid-19.

Yes, quite likely if the levels of virus are not so high.

Yes! LFTs are not reliable. They give a lot of false negatives. This is why they aren't recommended when you have symptoms - because if you have any reason to think you might have it, you need a reliable answer. A positive on an LFT is a good indication you have it, so they're a useful "quick check" for anyone without symptoms/no history of close contact, because they'll pick up a good proportion of cases that would otherwise be missed. But they give a lot of false negatives, what you've experienced is very common, and that's why they shouldn't be relied on if you have symptoms.

Thanks all!