Got Covid ! My experience...

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Mick F
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Re: Got Covid ! My experience...

Post by Mick F »

My positive lateral flow tests at home, were on the same day as my positive PCR test.
PCR test was done soon before noon yesterday 6th August. I have to isolate - as the rules say - for ten days after my test .............. or when I had symptoms first.

Symptoms on Monday 2nd, so my ten days are up on the 12th.

She, on the other hand had a LF test, and shows negative, and she went for a PCR this afternoon. Completely without any symptoms whatsoever.

If she tests positive (doubtful) or negative (more likely), the rules say she has to isolate for ten days after her positive test, or for ten days after my positive test because she lives in the same household as me.

Her test should it show positive and that as she has no symptoms, is her basic date. Today being the 7th, she has to isolate until the 17th. If she had symptoms, her basic date would be from when her symptoms started, and not her test date.

Meanwhile, I finish on the 12th, but she (even without ANY test) has to isolate for ten days after my positive test making her the 16th.

Follow it?
Doesn't make any sense to us, but that is the rule of law.

Negative people sharing a household with a positive case have to isolate from the date of the positive test.
The positive person isolates for ten days from when the symptoms started.
Can be a big difference, but the rules is the rules.
Mick F. Cornwall
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Mick F
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Re: Got Covid ! My experience...

Post by Mick F »

Another way of looking at it.

Say a person with symptoms waits seven days before getting a positive test.
They isolate for ten days from when their symptoms started. ie three days after the test.

Meanwhile, their perfectly healthy spouse with no symptoms has to isolate from the date of the positive test.
Ten days vs three days.
Mick F. Cornwall
DevonDamo
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Re: Got Covid ! My experience...

Post by DevonDamo »

Mick F wrote: 7 Aug 2021, 5:34pmFollow it?
Doesn't make any sense to us, but that is the rule of law.
The reason your isolation periods are different is that you and your wife are in different situations:
  • You have tested positive. That means that something is known about your infection timeline: i.e. you're likely to have had it for between 3 and 5 days prior to testing positive. All being well, you will fight it off and once you have you will no longer be infectious.
  • Your wife hasn't tested positive yet, which just means we don't know anything about her infection timeline. She may not be infected at all or she may have been infected at the same time as you (but not shown up on the lateral flow test) or she may have been infected by you 10 seconds ago. If it's the latter, then she could be a symptom-free spreader for the next 3 to 5 days, then a symptomatic spreader for as long as it takes for her to fight it off. I.e. she could pose an infection risk for a few days longer than you.
That's the rationale for her isolating longer than you.
Last edited by DevonDamo on 7 Aug 2021, 6:07pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Mick F
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Re: Got Covid ! My experience...

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Yes .......... but.

If the system worked to isolate from the date of a positive test, all would make sense.
The mere fact that a positive person can back-date the date of the symptom arrival but not the negative person in the household, is the anomaly.
Mick F. Cornwall
Jdsk
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Re: Got Covid ! My experience...

Post by Jdsk »

DevonDamo wrote: 7 Aug 2021, 6:01pmThat means that something is known about your infection timeline...
...
That's the rationale for her isolating longer than you.
Thanks for trying.

Jonathan
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Mick F
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Re: Got Covid ! My experience...

Post by Mick F »

Also ..........

Just say I said that my symptoms started on Saturday 31 July. They probably could have done.
Or perhaps I could lie? Who would know?

A test is a test, and it can be verified. Statements of a subjective nature, can't.
Mick F. Cornwall
DevonDamo
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Re: Got Covid ! My experience...

Post by DevonDamo »

Mick F wrote: 7 Aug 2021, 6:12pmOr perhaps I could lie? Who would know?
Why would you need to lie? If you want to, you can go down to your local, with your recent positive PCR certificate in hand, and proceed to cough in everyone's face. There's no enforcement of any of this stuff - isolation periods are, effectively, advice-only and there are no 'Covid wardens' to prevent you leaving your house. Ultimately, it's down to you and your conscience. Unfortunately, it's also down to whether you understand the idea of infection, incubation periods, infectiousness periods etc. Clearly, you're never going to understand these things, i.e. you will never understand the logic behind the differing isolation periods for you and your wife. Again - if you and your wife wanted to ignore the isolation periods, nobody would stop you, but it could result in others being infected. The vaccine makes this less critical, but there is still a small chance of people becoming seriously ill or dying from Covid in the UK, plus the longer the infection circulates, the more time the virus has to mutate its way past the vaccines.
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Re: Got Covid ! My experience...

Post by Cowsham »

Mick F wrote: 7 Aug 2021, 5:34pm My positive lateral flow tests at home, were on the same day as my positive PCR test.
PCR test was done soon before noon yesterday 6th August. I have to isolate - as the rules say - for ten days after my test .............. or when I had symptoms first.

Symptoms on Monday 2nd, so my ten days are up on the 12th.

She, on the other hand had a LF test, and shows negative, and she went for a PCR this afternoon. Completely without any symptoms whatsoever.

If she tests positive (doubtful) or negative (more likely), the rules say she has to isolate for ten days after her positive test, or for ten days after my positive test because she lives in the same household as me.

Her test should it show positive and that as she has no symptoms, is her basic date. Today being the 7th, she has to isolate until the 17th. If she had symptoms, her basic date would be from when her symptoms started, and not her test date.

Meanwhile, I finish on the 12th, but she (even without ANY test) has to isolate for ten days after my positive test making her the 16th.

Follow it?
Doesn't make any sense to us, but that is the rule of law.

Negative people sharing a household with a positive case have to isolate from the date of the positive test.
The positive person isolates for ten days from when the symptoms started.
Can be a big difference, but the rules is the rules.

You're never getting to the pub again Mick you know that don't you?
I am here. Where are you?
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Mick F
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Re: Got Covid ! My experience...

Post by Mick F »

:D :D
Good morning guys!

I'm wrong about the isolation regarding a person in the same household.
They, providing they are negative, isolate from the day their positive member first had symptoms.

What Mrs Mick F was told at the PCR centre was wrong. She was told to isolate for the full ten days.

Still awaiting her PCR results, so all bets are off at the moment.
Mick F. Cornwall
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Mick F
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Re: Got Covid ! My experience...

Post by Mick F »

Her PCR test has come back negative.
Surprise surprise.

She's generally bomb-proof and Teflon coated .......... I tend to catch any respiratory illness going.

Feeling absolutely fine and my taste-buds are now working perfectly.
Mick F. Cornwall
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Mick F
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Re: Got Covid ! My experience...

Post by Mick F »

Very confused here.
Please help.

eMail from NHS.
Your coronavirus PCR test (or other lab test) result is positive. It’s likely you had the virus when the test was done.

You must self-isolate immediately for 10 days to avoid infecting others.

This includes the day your symptoms started (or the test date if you’ve no symptoms) and the next 10 full days.

If this is a follow-up test result, self-isolate for 10 days from the date of your first test.
Para 2 and para 3 make sense.
Symptoms started 2nd August, so ten days are up on the 12th August.

Para 4 makes no sense at all.
I had two LF tests which showed positive so went for the PCR test on that same day. Para 4 means I have to isolate until the 15th August.

Also, if you in all innocence decided to have a test and returned a negative result, you have to isolate for ten days for the mere fact you tested yourself.
Which means if the whole population tested themselves, the whole population would be locked indoors for ten days.

Can someone explain these anomalies to me?
Genuinely confused.
Mick F. Cornwall
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Re: Got Covid ! My experience...

Post by thirdcrank »

Try making a list of the circumstances in which somebody might take a PCR test. Then, take each in turn separately and construct what I think is called a flow-chart (and my interest in a discussion about the right name is less than zero.) Work through each on the basis of that advice.

It seems clear to me.
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Re: Got Covid ! My experience...

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Mick F
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Re: Got Covid ! My experience...

Post by Mick F »

thirdcrank wrote: 8 Aug 2021, 9:45am Try making a list of the circumstances in which somebody might take a PCR test. Then, take each in turn separately and construct what I think is called a flow-chart (and my interest in a discussion about the right name is less than zero.) Work through each on the basis of that advice.

It seems clear to me.
Clear as mud to me.
Not saying PCR, but DIY lateral flow.

If you show negative and all in your household show negative also, and then you put your results into the Covid App, you are told to self isolate for ten days.

The trick is, that if you are negative, you say nowt.
Mick F. Cornwall
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Mick F
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Re: Got Covid ! My experience...

Post by Mick F »

Mick F wrote: 8 Aug 2021, 11:02amIf you show negative and all in your household show negative also, and then you put your results into the Covid App, you are told to self isolate for ten days.
Still not sure about my statement.

I may be wrong.
Mick F. Cornwall
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