New covid strain - do original tests work??

[CatalinaLoo]

The whole family feels like shite, including the kids. Symptoms include a fever that has lasted 5 days (going up and down so not continuous), chesty cough, no appetite and loss of taste. Covid tests are negative but admittedly these are a year or two old and have been shoved in a cupboard until now. Could this be covid? Do the original tests work on the new strains? Or do we just have one of the millions of generic winter viruses?

This is just out of interest by the way. It doesn’t make a jot of difference whether it’s Covid or another virus. We still feel like shit whatever it’s called!

I did an old one was negative.
My neighbour ( A nurse brought me one from her work) was positive.
It's the new XEC strain.
Hope you all feel better soon.

I read somewhere online that old tests can still show a positive result due to the chemicals on them still being viable. But if you get a negative result it could be that the test is no longer viable rather than not having Covid, if that makes sense!

For info, you can ignore the expiry dates on COVID test kits - no one knows how long they are effective for, but they were given something like a two year expiry date out of caution when introduced. Old tests should still be effective on new strains of the virus: it's basically the same virus.

@CatalinaLoo

I tested positive on a test yesterday that had an expiry date of January 2024.

I have just had some new tests delivered by amazon, and I have tested positive again on those, so the old tests still work to some degree after the expiry date.

I used an old test and got a positive recently. I'm holding on to the last few I have in case I need to test before seeing vulnerable relatives

Just bear in mind that you can't really trust the negative result even on an in-date test - even the best lateral flow tests miss about half of covid infections. I'd trust an out of date test even less from that point of view. I wouldn't throw them out though, as if one goes positive that's more likely to be accurate, so it's worth trying an old one before using up a new one.

Anyone assuming they have had the XEC strain, how long did it take for recovery? I'm guessing it's what i've had and it started nearly 2 weeks ago, feel mostly better but i still can't taste or smell and still pretty weak, walking up stairs makes my legs ache and makes me a bit out of breath. I miss tasting my food!