Have you had symptoms for a few days before testing positive?

[Rainydays55]

I’ve been feeling ‘off’ since the weekend, LFTs negative at the moment , but hearing quite a few people are having a few days of symptoms before having a positive ?

I got a positive on the Saturday but had a mild sore throat from the Wednesday before which turned into a raspy voice and tired feeling on the Friday (negative lft on Friday AM, positive on Saturday AM)

Dd started with a sore throat Wednesday. Didn't show positive on a LFT till Sunday

Yes

My dad woke up with symptoms on Sunday, tested am and pm, negative, then positive Monday morning

I've had symptoms since Sunday pm, really similar to when I had COVID in October, DH and ds are positive, but I'm still showing negative

Weird

I had a negative LFT and a negative PCR my first day of symptoms, the next day the LFT was faintly positive.

Yes, I started with a sore throat Saturday and a banging headache and tested positive Monday afternoon after getting a negative Monday morning!

I’m still testing negative on LFT even though I’ve had body aches, back ache, sore throat, headache, feeling tired… must be a random bug!

I’m still testing negative on LFT even though I’ve had body aches, back ache, sore throat, headache, feeling tired… must be a random bug

Same here. I have had one cold type bug after another since last Oct and never had covid and I test twice a week for work (NHS). I have been in.close contact with someone who has it and DS has class mates who have had it but I never get it.. famous last words!!

Yup, sore throat on the Wednesday, didn't test positive until the Saturday.
If you're testing with the kit thats "nose swab only" then still swab your tonsils with it if you can, heard a lot of reports that the new variant takes much longer to show up in the nose and a nose swab only is much more likely to give a false negative.

DH had 3 days of symptoms before a positive test, I caught it off him but tested positive only 1/2 a day after symptoms showed up.

Both of only swabbed our noses even though we had the old nose & throat style tests (cannot do the throat thing without almost being sick).

I’ve swabbed my throat and nose. Got a horrible headache that’s started tonight and a strange taste in my mouth. So surprised LFTs are negative.

Yep I had symptoms for 4 days before testing positive. I knew I must have had it as the kids had already tested positive and I had symptoms, but took a few days for my test to turn positive

Yes, I did. 3 days of feeling rubbish and then positive.

I feel like I’m going a bit mad at the moment because I feel so yucky , it’s not a cold, but also feel it can’t be covid!

Symptoms started Saturday about lunchtime. Didn't test positive until Mon morning.

After 3 days of symptoms and no positive LF, I went for a PCR which was positive. I'm now on day 6 and still no positive LF although all symptoms are gone

Yes negative for 2 days before an absolute blazing positive.

I started with sore throat, aching and shivers, took 24 hours to later before LFT was positive. DC showed symptoms same day, 5 days until he gave a positive result.

Why are you starting to feel mad?? It's normal to get viruses and bugs, I wouldn't keep testing constantly, no need to now. I've had tonnes of bugs this year, none of them covid.

Yep. My whole household has it now. Kids tested positive Friday, husband Saturday. I had symptoms from Saturday night (sore throat, sneezing, major fatigue) but consistently negative until yesterday. Now very strong positive.

I knew I had it given I’ve been basically living in covid soup for several days including 3 year old sneezing in my face but it was weirdly frustrating to test negative when I knew I must have it! Also will now probably take longer to stop testing positive - I know we don’t have to isolate now but i want to avoid vulnerable family until I’m def in the clear!

It’s odd how it effects everyone differently in terms of symptoms, duration, severity and how long it takes to test positive…

My mum was really ill with flu like symptoms from last Monday, tested Wednesday and was negative.

I fell ill on Friday morning so did a test and it was positive. My mum retested and it was positive also. So she’s gone a minimum of 3 days being quite ill but testing negative.

Anecdotally, children in my class are feeling rough for around 3-4 days before testing positive. Some are off school in that time because they are ill.

Yes! Felt off colour last Wednesday but neg test. Went for a pcr early Thursday - negative. Tested again Sunday morning as was full of cold/sore throat/sinus and there it was. Can’t help but spread it if we don’t get positives for 4 days! Just a heavy cold for me though.

All very strange, over the weekend I had two days where .I had faint positive LFs, for the next two days my LFs have been negative but I’ve started to feel much worse. My daughter had it last week and confirmed positive via a PCR.

I had a stinking headache and felt a bit off for a couple of days before my positive result.