Should I go for a PCR just to prove I’ve had covid?

[SunnyUpNorth]

I’m on day 9 at the moment and still testing firmly positive on the lft. I had a pcr about 4 days before I had the positive lft and it came back negative. Eventually tested positive on the lft but didn’t bother going for a pcr as the latest advice is not to bother if getting a positive result on the lft.

However my quandary is that we are going away in Feb half term and I’m worried I’ll still be showing up positive when we have our pcr tests for travel and I will have no way of proving I’ve had covid and that it isn’t a new infection and won’t be contagious.

Or if I just register the positive LFT would that be taken as fact on my record? I’m assuming you need to have a pcr test for it to be recorded.

I think now that you don’t need to go for a PCR if you are asymptomatic but LFT positive, they must be counting positive LFTs in the same way as PCRs. I’m not certain though.

My positive lateral flow result is showing on my medical record, I’ve got access to it via the NHS app.

Surely you've already registered the positive LFT result??

You should have registered the lft.
Even if you go for a pcr and it's positive you will begin isolating again for however many days it's supposed to be where you are

Yep yiu are supposed to register the lateral flow....

No didn’t register it as didn’t see any reason to and didn’t think it would be taken as an official result. Any chance I can retrospectively register it?!!

Just take any lateral flow, enter the code and register it as positive. To be honest anyone can do that and use it as proof of recovery (if the LFT results can be used as proof, that is).

Following this thread as wondering the same thing. Can positive LFT be used as proof of recent Covid infection for travel purposes?

You can only backdate a test by one day so if you now register it you will be told to isolate by test and trace and you may find your timer starts again. Can you do another 5-10 days of isolation?

@delilahbucket

You can only backdate a test by one day so if you now register it you will be told to isolate by test and trace and you may find your timer starts again. Can you do another 5-10 days of isolation?

That is incorrect, I think it’s 5 days

By Feb half term though, there's nothing to say that it won't be a new infection - could be a different variant. I'm not sure that they would accept that you've had covid as an exemption from a positive PCR.

I could be wrong though, I haven't looked in to travel rules etc but I know 2 people who have tested positive again this week (one with symptoms, one without) even though they only had covid at New Year. It is possible it's leftover infection (and most likely in the asymptotic one) but it's still not impossible it's not a new infection

@Isntitironic1 when you log a test it asks if you took it today or yesterday. There are no other options.

If you dont register it, you contribute to the daily cases being misleading. Definitely register it please.

[quote delilahbucket]@Isntitironic1 when you log a test it asks if you took it today or yesterday. There are no other options.[/quote]
But when you feel in the questionnaire it asks when you started with symptoms

Just take any lateral flow, enter the code and register it as positive. To be honest anyone can do that and use it as proof of recovery

But then anyone could do that in order to get a (fake) recovery pass?!

'But when you feel in the questionnaire it asks when you started with symptoms'

That's on PCR booking, not LFT reporting. What @delilahbucket said is correct.

Plus LFT positives will not generate a covid pass.

Sorry all, I typed a reply and thought I had posted it but seems I hadn’t.

I was also thinking that surely the lft don’t count as an official case as otherwise all the anti-vaxxers would just submit one a month before they want to go on holiday. At least with the pcr you show ID etc.

I’m not going to submit one as can’t seem any benefit to doing so now and def don’t want to do another 10 days!

I thought I’d see whether there is a proof of recovery from a LFT now my isolation is up. For the travel one I’ve got the barcodes for my vaccines and booster but there’s nothing about my positive test. It is logged in my test history on the app, but for the proof of recovery should there be a separate barcode? I’m really curious to know the answer to this now as if you need the PCR for proof of recovery that’s quite important!

When I tested positive I called 119 and I was told that a positive lateral flow will still give me a recovered from covid certificate on the app. It didn't happen, I called back to question it and I was told I was given the wrong information. I went today after 2 weeks for a PCR in the hope that I am still positive! I am suppose to travel to Italy and my NHS pass it's over 6 months old and out of date and I cannot have the booster before I am booked to travel. I was booked to have my booster the day after I tested positive. So I would personally do a PCR. It will mean starting the quarantine from scratch, but I am wfh and still not feeling that good, so I'd rather do that that being unable to travel.

I’ve been looking into this as I’m going to the USA in a few weeks. This is a screenshot taken from the CDC website. So basically if you think you might still test positive you can use Proof of Recovery documentation (though I can’t find any info as to how you actually obtain this!). Should I contract Covid before I go I would definitely be looking to have a confirmed PCR test (I appreciate you aren’t travelling to the USA but different countries’ guidance keeps changing).

By Feb half term though, there's nothing to say that it won't be a new infection - could be a different variant. I'm not sure that they would accept that you've had covid as an exemption from a positive PCR.

See my post above - they do accept it (along with confirmation from a “health provider” that you have recovered). I don’t think a positive PCR states which variant you have had? though happy to be corrected on that.