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Original poster

What are people doing if still positive after 5 days? Not testing?

54 replies

Frazzled2207 · 02/05/2022 14:41

Tested + on Saturday so today is day 2 for me and today’s test is about as purple as it’s possible to be despite me being not poorly just sniffly.

Am def going to stay in the house (perhaps do some isolated walks) until day 5 as per the guidance but what are people doing after that if still testing positive? (I have heard that 10 days plus is very common). Possibly not testing at all so just going about their business in their normal way?

am very aware that legally I can ignore it completely just wondering what other people are doing. Doesn’t feel right to be socialising or going shopping if I am still positive.

OP posts:
VanGoghsDog · 04/05/2022 12:38

Tested, still positive. That's day eight now (test was last Wed but symptoms started Tuesday).

CreateAName123 · 04/05/2022 14:11

I'm on day 5.
I work in care and have an outbreak at work so tested before work on Friday and was really faint positive. Saturday (day1) was also faint. Tested today on day 5 and it's really dark...darker than the control line and came up straight away. I need 2 negative tests 24 hours between them before I can go back to work.

Original poster
Frazzled2207 · 04/05/2022 16:59

CreateAName123 · 04/05/2022 14:11

I'm on day 5.
I work in care and have an outbreak at work so tested before work on Friday and was really faint positive. Saturday (day1) was also faint. Tested today on day 5 and it's really dark...darker than the control line and came up straight away. I need 2 negative tests 24 hours between them before I can go back to work.

that's rubbish especially if you don't get paid. How are you feeling? I am on day 4 and again is really dark. However I am not ill. I'm very fortunate to be able to wfh.

OP posts:
Judystilldreamsofhorses · 04/05/2022 17:04

I’ve had Covid twice in the last three months. The first time I was really sick and even three weeks on was still getting a strong positive. The second i mainly had a sore throat. I tested positive for ten days but it did get less dark/bright and day nine you had to really peer at it to see. (Triple jabbed, but work in education so just bad luck!)

Judystilldreamsofhorses · 04/05/2022 17:04

Oh, and I am in Scotland so until Sunday it was still 10 days of isolation.

motogirl · 04/05/2022 17:08

There's no rules now just guidance. I would suggest that if you are feeling unwell you stay at home, if you are feeling ok then make sure you mask if you go anywhere inside and avoid places you have to remove it (eg I wouldn't go to the pub but I would go to the local coop)

Fishwishy · 04/05/2022 17:09

Frazzled2207 · 03/05/2022 20:13

Gosh how tedious. And are you isolating?

Show quote history

Sort of not mixing indoors. The mental health affects of self isolating were really bad. I've been ill for a week before but you are focused on getting better, when you are not even ill it really gets to you.

Fishwishy · 04/05/2022 17:10

I self isolated till day 10 when I ran out of tests. Still not mixing indoors without a ffp3 mask

hellcatspanglelalala · 04/05/2022 18:08

OnceAgainWithFeeling · 02/05/2022 18:42

Guidance is you should isolate until a negative test, isn’t it? Earliest being days 6 and 7?

Well considering some people have posted on here that they were positive til day 21, I'm not sure that's very practical. I'm sure The guidance says after day 10 you're highly unlikely to infect others even if you still have a line.

CreateAName123 · 04/05/2022 18:13

Frazzled2207 · 04/05/2022 16:59

that's rubbish especially if you don't get paid. How are you feeling? I am on day 4 and again is really dark. However I am not ill. I'm very fortunate to be able to wfh.

Show quote history

I feel fine, I had a mild sore throat days 0-4, got rid of that and it's been replaced by a stuffy nose.

But other than that nothing. No cough, no temp, no bowel problems, no loss of smell/taste/appetite.
I wouldn't even class it as a bad cold...just a mild cold I'd have gone to work with a few years back!

If I hadn't had to test for work I wouldn't have tested as it doesn't have the classic COVID symptoms.

Original poster
Frazzled2207 · 04/05/2022 18:27

@CreateAName123
same here!
i only tested because my son had it. I could have easily been none the wiser

OP posts:
TalkingFeminism · 05/05/2022 09:28

The NZ advice is to isolate for seven days after the first day of your symptoms or when you test positive (whichever is the earliest), where that day is Day 0. So if you get symptoms on Wednesday, you may leave isolation on Thursday of the following week, so long as you're feeling ok. Interestingly, they also say to not test upon leaving isolation, as you are likely to still return a positive test. I suspect the thinking is that if your symptoms have resolved, you are unlikely to be contagious (although they also suggest wearing masks, not visiting vulnerable people etc). Obviously there are statistical anomalies, but it may be that LFTs are not, at this point, a useful gauge of infectiousness.

FWIW, I tested positive recently - had a few days of mild symptoms but I didn't get a negative LFT until Day 14! Had I not left isolation until a negative test I would have out of action for two weeks on the basis of feeling slightly unwell for about four days. I used the NZ advice as guidance, on the basis that they're likely to know what they're doing regarding the risk assessment.

VanGoghsDog · 05/05/2022 09:51

Why would you assume NZ know what they're doing more than any other country?

And I'm not sure what they mean by "feel OK", I feel fine but I clearly still have a cough. But my experience of coughs and colds is that I often continue to have a cough for weeks, if not months, after everything else is gone.

Anyway, my first symptoms were Tuesday last week, tested positive Wednesday and again yesterday. I'm coming out of isolation tomorrow regardless. I've got a weekend away booked and I already missed one weekend away (and lost the money for the hotel, as I would with this one too) last weekend.

LisaSimpson73 · 05/05/2022 10:01

I'm a teacher and have been told that I can return to work on day 6 if I feel well enough (which I do) regardless of the test results. The line on the test is still a very clear positive but tomorrow I'll be back in work (avoiding people and wearing a mask as much as possible) presumably I'll be less infectious then than I was last Friday when I hadn't a clue 🤷🏽‍♀️
My real dilemma is whether or not to a big wedding I have on the Saturday.
What do you think?

lljkk · 05/05/2022 10:09

Why follow NZ advice & not Chinese advice: PRC lock +people up away from home for 14 days, after all. "Better safe than sorry!" They'd say. The streets of Shanghai are being heavily disinfected as we speak in hopes of lifting their lockdown soon. More "Better safe than sorry!" logic. <shrug>

cookiemonster2468 · 05/05/2022 10:10

Although the guidance says five days, morally it is right to isolate until you have a negative test.

A positive means you have a high viral load and are therefore infectious. Whatever the guidance says, that is the science, and if you walk past an old/ vulnerable person in the street, you could potentially infect them.

That's just the simple truth of it so if you want to avoid that then stay at home as much as possible until you're negative.

Original poster
Frazzled2207 · 05/05/2022 10:13

LisaSimpson73 · 05/05/2022 10:01

I'm a teacher and have been told that I can return to work on day 6 if I feel well enough (which I do) regardless of the test results. The line on the test is still a very clear positive but tomorrow I'll be back in work (avoiding people and wearing a mask as much as possible) presumably I'll be less infectious then than I was last Friday when I hadn't a clue 🤷🏽‍♀️
My real dilemma is whether or not to a big wedding I have on the Saturday.
What do you think?

think your timelines are the same as me, I'm day 5 today and am encouraged that despite having a super dark line still yesterday today is a LOT fainter.
I am planning to go to a school event tomorrow, will sit in the far corner with a mask on. Also going to go and vote today.

Wedding is a tricky one though your lie might rapidly go faint between now and then. Whereas I think everyone would agree that any kind of big party or wedding is a risk these days (more than a quarter of us that attended a work event a week ago are now ill) there will almost certainly be some older/vulnerable people there. Is any of it outdoors? I'd be much happier about attending that part.

OP posts:
LisaSimpson73 · 05/05/2022 10:16

Sadly it's not outdoors and there will definitely be older and vulnerable people there.
I know I really shouldn't go but feel bad letting people down, especially since I'm well enough to work 🤷🏽‍♀️

Original poster
Frazzled2207 · 05/05/2022 10:18

cookiemonster2468 · 05/05/2022 10:10

Although the guidance says five days, morally it is right to isolate until you have a negative test.

A positive means you have a high viral load and are therefore infectious. Whatever the guidance says, that is the science, and if you walk past an old/ vulnerable person in the street, you could potentially infect them.

That's just the simple truth of it so if you want to avoid that then stay at home as much as possible until you're negative.

I don't disagree with your logic however having just had covid with almost no symptoms, was only testing because we were asked to before and after a work event (where we all caught it), I could very easily have been none the wiser. So I can readily believe that hundreds of thousands of people are wandering around blissfully unaware that they have covid - there will be others that are aware and just don't care.
So whilst I would not want to infect anyone, they are more likely to be infected by someone else rather than me who will probably give them a very wide berth when walking past!

OP posts:
Original poster
Frazzled2207 · 05/05/2022 10:20

LisaSimpson73 · 05/05/2022 10:16

Sadly it's not outdoors and there will definitely be older and vulnerable people there.
I know I really shouldn't go but feel bad letting people down, especially since I'm well enough to work 🤷🏽‍♀️

I don't think anyone will feel let down if you don't go because of covid. It's just one of those very unfortunate things.

OP posts:
VanGoghsDog · 05/05/2022 15:14

cookiemonster2468 · 05/05/2022 10:10

Although the guidance says five days, morally it is right to isolate until you have a negative test.

A positive means you have a high viral load and are therefore infectious. Whatever the guidance says, that is the science, and if you walk past an old/ vulnerable person in the street, you could potentially infect them.

That's just the simple truth of it so if you want to avoid that then stay at home as much as possible until you're negative.

Outdoor transmission is so unlikely as to be negligible so your idea that someone coming to the end of the commonly known infectious period (which is ten days) could kill someone by walking past them is ludicrous.

TalkingFeminism · 06/05/2022 07:08

@VanGoghsDog, @lljkk: I read guidance from a number of different places, and was interested that NZ - which has abandoned elimination but has not embraced UK-style free-for-all - nevertheless said it was ok to leave isolation after seven days, even if you still test positive, so long as you're feeling better and continue to take precautions. (They have details about this - for instance, you can leave even if you have a lingering cough, but not if you have fever, sore throat etc.) Many people want the magic negative test to assure themselves they can re-enter society, but given this can take a time to occur (like in my case - it took me over a week to get a negative test), the advice provides some guidance about the risks to others.

VanGoghsDog · 06/05/2022 08:39

So, you just prefer the NZ advice then. Fair enough, it does sound a lot more convenient.

lljkk · 06/05/2022 10:39

Someone I know is currently isolating until she tests negative.

Afraid to even go in her own garden.
She had her first positive test 6 days ago.
Apparently the LFT lines are getting darker not lighter.
She has very mild symptoms.
She lives alone, has a lot of mental health issues, made worse by the isolation, she is suffering from the social isolation itself.
She WFH.
But hey ho! Stopping any and all transmission matters more than her mental health: Friend fully agrees with those of you who say that.
And the core thing about people with mental illness is that they always know what's best for themselves, right?

Dishh · 06/05/2022 12:55

@lljkk

Stopping any and all transmission matters more than her mental health: Friend fully agrees with those of you who say that. And the core thing about people with mental illness is that they always know what's best for themselves, right?

Who has said that, exactly? And why are you being so weirdly aggressive?