We recently had a party and a couple of guests were getting over Covid, about 9 or 10 days before. I asked them to retest and both were still positive. They both stayed home. I'd avoid your friends unless they retest.

The people that we know who have had covid recently (the people that we know have only had the omicron variant - we don't know anyone who had covid prior to vaccinations) aren't coming out again until they've tested negative. They just don't want to spread it to their friends or family.

Isolate 5 days from symptom onset then mask for the next ten. I believe.

You can test positive for a long time after recovering, so most guidelines don’t call for retesting. I was specifically told not to when I had it.

Outdoors I’d feel comfortable before the 15 days are up but I might feel differently if I had breathing issues.

They say after 5 days you're not supposed to be contagious anymore. But you should wear a mask for 5 days after your symptoms are gone. When I had covid, it took me 13 days to test negative. I still had fatigue and ice pick headaches for weeks afterwards. I wore a mask to work when I got back for about a week.

I'm back to wearing a mask (for the last 3 weeks... yay Calgary Stampede: 3 co-workers now have Covid... ) And yesterday bought an N95 to wear under my paper mask. I'm going to see my parents on Thursday for the first time in exactly 3 years and I cannot get sick again. I'm so angry that everyone let their guard down. I've tested 3x since Tuesday and will test daily until Thursday morning when I leave. The paranoia is so bad (it's just who I am, anxiety does that to a person).

A home RAT test will not show positive if you are not positive. Only the PCR test will. So if the RAT test shows you are negative after you've had Covid, trust the test. But the PCR test may show a positive for about 3 months even though you are not sick anymore. Nor are you contagious.

I recall hearing you can test positive up to 3 months after recovering without being contagious. However, I agree waiting for a negative test result is best. So much of all this seems to be a guessing game with ”we think” or ”it appears” or ”to the best of our knowledge” and so on. Why not just take the safest route? With our family and friends, everyone has tested negative as soon as their quarantine was over. We both tested positive for Covid in Nov. 2020 with very mild symptoms. I called it ”sniffles.” We were told to isolate for 10 days and tested negative on day 11.

I'd do what the CDC recommends:

https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/s1227-isolation-quarantine-guidance.html

You can test positive on a polymerase chainr reaction (PCR) test for some time because it is more sensitive than the rapid antigen test (RAT). The PCR test looks for fragments of the viral RNA and can detect tiny amounts, so if positive a month after infection it doesn’t necessarily mean someone is shedding enough virus to be infectious.

The RAT is less sensitive and tests for a protein from the virus. Scientists feel that if it is negative after an infection, one is no longer contagious.

Many scientists/epidemiologists disagree with the CDC recommendations, and feel one should test negative with a RAT before going back out into the world. My brother didn’t test negative until 14 days after his first positive test.

When I had it a few weeks ago I tested every day. I was only negative on the tenth day. I felt awful and am still very lethargic and tire easily. DH is the same and also has a hacking cough. Before covid we were both very fit and ran regularly. I have only just got back to half my previous distance. If you have a breathing issue I would definitely err on the side of extreme caution.

eta we are both triple vaccinated. We’ll be getting another jab soon.

We're supposed to go by the CDC guidelines, which were mentioned above. Everyone I know who hadn't had it before is now getting it. I'm not going out in public again until my trip. My son has been sick for a few days, and so have 7 of his coworkers, only one got tested and was positive for covid because the flight doc is 45 minutes away from them and not doing testing for some reason. He's in the Air Force and this is the second time they have failed to provide decent health care to him. I'm a little annoyed right now.

People are ill at ease because now that we know more the protocols are not near what they were two years ago. The protocols to assume people are vaccinated. People are going to get this. Most people do not get debilitatingly ill. That was the point of all the vaccinations--to keep us out of the hospital. I would not expect a positive test from them but you do you.

Here’s a recent article from Nature that addresses this subject.

How long is COVID infectious. What scientists know so far.

People are ill at ease because there are so many different variants, and who knows which one's going to be deadlier. Will the next mutation be worse?

I would be concerned too, Alisande. You won’t enjoy a lunch when you are worried. They should test before getting together for lunch, even outside.

My ”friend” refused to be vaccinated at all and has called me a few times for lunch. I won’t go. She’s almost 80.

I am triple vaccinated and hate to think how I would have fared if I hadn’t been. Medically speaking I suppose what I had would be considered ’mild’. But I don’t want to be unwell at all, even ’mildly’.

if someone is testing positive even after 10 days on a rapid test, they can still be shedding virus. PLEASE be careful. If a PCR test, probably just antibodies.

While the old thought of pneumonia being the best friend of the elderly which was often expressed when someone developed it after a long illness when I was younger. I am not certain that a healthy person should court having a form of it via Covid.

My niece is coming down from Minneapolis to check on me in a couple of weeks. She wants to have dinner with two of my friends and myself. She has suggested a place with a patio because she is bringing her small dog and it cannot be left alone where she is staying. I am having a very difficult time with eating with the idea of eating even outdoors with people who may be infected even if we would be lucky to have a table at the edge of the patio. She is not taking no and my friends are actively searching for a dinner spot.

Covid is not over and while each can make their own decision as to what they want to do they also need to understand that for some diseases it is not the immediate infection that is the real problem but the long term problems caused by the infection.

My husband is one of five "kids" in his family. One of his brothers hosted a family reunion at his home last weekend (the 23rd). Hubs and I did not go, as our 11-year-old kitty has cancer and three weeks ago we were told he had only a week or two more to live. The reunion "event" was held outdoors. Apparently, someone had Covid, because, so far, eight people who attended now have Covid. This Omicron variant is highly contagious and it seems being outdoors isn't the best safety net.

I understand the newer BA5 is more easily transmitted outdoors than previous variants? I've seen cautions about assuming being outdoors is safe because of it.

Ugh, we had our granddaughter here for the past 2 days, and when hubby took her home earlier today, her mom turns out to be sick with COVID. She says she feels like she has the flu. Now hubby is very anxious. He's worried for his daughter of course - and he's especially vulnerable because he has asthma ☹️

I'm anxious as well.

My boss is going to the Galapagos. Not only must they wear masks the entire time, even when they're outside, but even on the boat. I assume that's because they're protecting the wildlife there, since it has crossed boundaries. You can't be too careful. Protection can never be a bad thing.

Lindsey, I'm so sorry about your cat. I've been there.

Carol, I hope the Covid is mild and doesn't spread any further. Keep us posted.

There's only a few stores I'll enter, and I'm always masked. Very often I'm the only person wearing one. Most of the time I do curbside grocery pickups. One of my closest friends is in her 90s. She's very active and has way more energy than I, but she goes everywhere, with everyone, and I worry about her. She's masked, but I learned the other day she wears one mask per day no matter how many places she goes in a given day. She keeps taking it off and putting it back on. I don't think that's a very good idea.

If it's a good mask, it should be effective for at least a day's worth of hours, I understand. I wear my KN95s for about 3 days/24 hours total before discarding. I cover mine with a paper mask, since I spend my days around kids.

https://parade.com/1335615/emily-laurence/how-long-can-you-wear-a-kn95-mask/

And I also stay masked in all enclosed public places.

I don't know . . . if someone wears a mask into a store or other venue, then takes it off and puts it back on to go somewhere else, and repeats this however many times, all in the same day, they're handling the mask in between wearings, which at one point, at least, we were told not to do. (Perhaps this advice has changed.)

I don't discard my KN95s between wearings; I hang them for at least two days, usually more. I've read that this works.

I keep hand sanitizer in my car and use it after handling my masks.

ETA - I was thinking about the concern over handling a mask multiple times and it occurred to me that most people do not tend to think about their hair, when it comes to germs, and unless you wash your hair every night, you're sleeping on the germs and other goodies of the day, and then there are other activities like brushing or just touching. I keep my hair covered by a hat and pulled back in a bun when I'm out - especially at work with all the kids.

I'm going through the same dilemma.

I managed to avoid Covid all this time but my adult son brought it into the house. He has been a fanatic about masking to protect me but let his guard down by getting into a basketball game with a bunch of guys outdoors. He thought being outside was safe.

He got it and had virtually no symptoms but did get tested. I felt lousy a few days later, went for a PCR test, which takes two days to come back, and it was positive. To say I was really, really p*ssed at him is putting it mildly.

I was amazed how mild it was. I'm fully vaccinated and boosted and only had one day of sneezing and feeling like I had a head cold. No sore throat or cough.

I read the CDC guidelines which said after initial positive results with a PCR test, only the home tests should be used to determine when you are no longer contagious. PCR tests pick of fragments of any leftover parts of the virus where the home tests only pick up live virus. PCR tests could test positive for months. PCR should only be used for initial diagnosis.

So, I'm absolutely fine, feel great and have since that one day, yet I continue to test positive on the home tests which means I am contagious. Day 8 and I still won't go out.

Jane

After 2 and 1/2 years of the family not getting covid, my grandson has it. He was visiting college friends in Oregon for eight days and when he returned he had a sore throat. So he is in the basement of their home and working from home for the week. It's

a lovely renovated space with a big flat screen, a huge sectional, and a bar to eat at. Also, his workstation is down there. His parents just arrived home from St John and will distance themselves as much as possible from him. They are all scheduled to go to Iceland later this month. I'm wondering if it would be safe to go to their house on Sunday but stay in the yard away from them.

One of my stepgrandaughters went to Iceland last month and came home with Covid. I'm just sayin' . . . :-) Can't automatically blame Iceland, though. She could have picked it up on a plane, or an airport, or wherever.

I don't know what your best approach is, Lily. These are unique times we're in.

Jane, I'm glad your symptoms were so mild. I've heard other stories like yours, and I've also heard of intensely sore throats, high fevers, and loss of taste, etc. Maybe the severity of symptoms depends in part on viral load?

Airports are the likeliest places to be exposed, I think...

I mask everywhere except my own home. Inside and outside. I don't want Covid nor do I want to give it to anyone else.

Today I finally tested negative on the home test.

I'm going out tomorrow...masked.

Jane