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A 'how did we catch it' conundrum?

34 replies

ApolloandDaphne · 27/03/2022 13:11

This is like one of those mind bender puzzles

3 couples met and had dinner at someone house on Saturday. All tested negative on LFT then.

One member of each couple tested positive on Thursday. The second member of one couple tested positive on Saturday. The other two have been testing negative this week.

None of us had been around each other before Saturday.

So who was it that passed on Covid initially?

Can it be carried and transmitted by someone but not show up on tests?

The two who didn't get it have both been working outside the hoe , one in an office and one in a school, so would be most, likely to have been in contact with it.

OP posts:
BottlingBurpsForGrandma · 27/03/2022 13:20

One of the two who "didn't get it" already had it. Did they definitely LFT or did you assume? Lots of people aren't testing without being specifically asked to any more.

Or each couple got it independently from elsewhere, since rates are sky high at the moment.

Does it matter? Would you be doing the same detective work for nits or D&V or chicken pox?

ApolloandDaphne · 27/03/2022 13:24

Definitely all tested. My DH didn't get it and I saw him test. The other one works in a school and tests constantly.

I know I am doing weird detective work. I have Covid and am bored out of my chops!

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walksen · 27/03/2022 13:27

Honestly there have been loads of cases since Omicron was around of parties discos weddings etc where everyone has tested negative on lft to be allowed entry and half the people there go on to get covid.

Plenty of posts on here and even quite public cases like Andrew Marr saying they were symptomatic for a few days before testing positive. It's always been the case they aren't sensitive to low viral loads. Especially at the moment there is quite a good chance of picking up an infection at gatherings. Even more so in the next few weeks whee people will have to pay for tests. Surely it's a non issue in this context

TOADfan · 27/03/2022 13:28

I test regularly as I look after my ill dad, do all shopping etc.
He tested positive for covid on a PCR (due to go into hospital) and yet all my lfts remained negative, yet I'm the only person he came into contact with.
Strange.

ApolloandDaphne · 27/03/2022 13:29

It is absolutely a non issue. I do not contest this. I am just pondering randomly on it.

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Northernsoullover · 27/03/2022 13:30

Just because you have a negative LFT it doesn't mean you don't have it. Its a layer of protection. That's all. Do people really not know this?

ApolloandDaphne · 27/03/2022 13:30

@TOADfan

I test regularly as I look after my ill dad, do all shopping etc. He tested positive for covid on a PCR (due to go into hospital) and yet all my lfts remained negative, yet I'm the only person he came into contact with. Strange.
Strange indeed.
OP posts:
NuffSaidSam · 27/03/2022 13:31

It's possibly just a coincidence given how prevalent it is at the moment. You could have caught it from anywhere/anyone.

Someone's test could have been wrong, they're not 100% accurate.

trainnane · 27/03/2022 13:32

I have it and have zero idea where from

ApolloandDaphne · 27/03/2022 13:33

Indeed it could be entirely coincidental.

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RewildingAmbridge · 27/03/2022 13:36

I've just had Covid, felt fine on the Friday, bit tired on the Saturday evening but nothing out of the ordinary, we'd had a long day (at home sorting the garden) woke up in the night Saturday night/early hours of Sunday drenched in sweat, banging headache feeling like I'd been run over. Sunday tested negative despite by that point also having a fever over 40, Monday morning negative, Monday afternoon positive, clearly I didn't only catch Covid Monday afternoon as I was bed ridden at that point. I didn't go anywhere or see anyone other than DH and DS from Friday lunchtime onwards. Then found out a colleague I'd seen Thursday tested positive on the Saturday having tested negative before work on the Thursday.

Someone already had it, likely one of those of you who went on to test positive, but not enough for it to register on a LFT the day of your dinner party.

SpicePumpkin · 27/03/2022 13:40

Just because everyone had positive lateral flows doesn't mean they didn't have covid. I thought everyone knew this by now. And clearly it is the case if everyone caught...

Abraxan · 27/03/2022 14:23

The LFT test on the day isn't foolproof. Many people have some of the milder or less obvious symptoms before and test negative. Done have more specific symptoms and test negative, only to test positive a day or two later, sometimes sooner.

I tested negative in the morning on arrival to work. It was agreed that I could stay at school as was negative and the tablets reduced my headache. I gradually felt worse as the day went on. I tested again on getting home 6 hours later and was very much positive.

SirVixofVixHall · 27/03/2022 14:26

A negative LFT only means that you are probably (but not definitely) negative at the time the test is taken. You could be positive an hour later, or the test could be a false negative.

BalooLikeYou · 27/03/2022 15:36

One member of each couple are having an affair. Obviously!

Lilaclavenders · 27/03/2022 15:56

People are infectious two days before testing positive!

So testing really doesn't help much Confused

Lilaclavenders · 27/03/2022 15:57

3 couples met and had dinner at someone house on Saturday. All tested negative on LFT then.

That means nothing. They could all 6 have actually been infectious.

RamblingFar · 27/03/2022 16:11

I had symptoms days before I tested positive. A negative LFT doesn't prove much.

Anniefrenchfry · 27/03/2022 16:18

It could be any of them including those positive on Thursday the only person it won’t be is the person who only tested positive on the sat.

Judystilldreamsofhorses · 27/03/2022 16:18

I had a positive PCR last on Monday past, but it wasn’t until Friday that lateral flows started to show positive. Today’s is neon pink so clearly I have a lot of virus still in me.

User134356356 · 27/03/2022 16:18

@BalooLikeYou

One member of each couple are having an affair. Obviously!
Hahahahaha, the MN plot twist everyone is waiting for. But seriously, it's common knowledge that LFTs have a high margin of error and even more so if the sample wasn't taken by a professional. People swabbing themselves are notoriously unreliable since nobody voluntarily sticks it all the way behind their eyeballs or down their throat. So one person was clearly infectious.

There have been many cases of symptomatic people isolating with confirmed cases in the same house and still testing negative on LFTs.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 27/03/2022 16:22

LFTs aren't foolproof. It's common to get false negatives.

PierresPotato · 27/03/2022 16:23

It's so prevalent you will never know.

ApolloandDaphne · 27/03/2022 16:50

@PierresPotato

It's so prevalent you will never know.
I know!
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thewknd · 27/03/2022 17:11

It's well known that you are infectious 2-3 days before testing positive.