Isolation Diary: To swab or not to swab? A negative one day could be a positive the next. Yet…if everyone in my family was negative one day, we could, on that day, gather, have a meal, play a game, and hug when we said good-bye. Or, I could rush to visit a negative friend! If I’m positive, I hunker down even more, until I’m negative. Another test. And how fast does one receive the results? Minutes? Days? In other musings: today, or rather yesterday, Wednesday, was Fig’s (my grandson) 1st birthday. I have to say, all the young and very young people I know give me great hope for our future. And here’s a big Thank You to their parents!
Results from Covid tests generally came within 24 to 28 hours, sometimes sooner.
Shaela C.
I don’t mean to be a downer but I know multiple people who have been diagnosed with COVID and received negative tests. One family member received multiple negative tests and has all the symptoms (including being on day 8 with a fever). Fortunately, it appears she has a mild case. The tests aren’t reliable. The best thing to do when receiving a negative result is quarantine as if you have it and then meet up. That’s my (non-medical-professional) advice.Corey K.
Yes, and the free drive-through testing being provided in L.A. where a self-swab is placed into a vial of liquid before being sent off to be tested is the least accurate test available, with a high false-negative rate. Get the test but please, please — and I hope that whatever literature you get with your result makes this clear – do not take a negative as a confirmed clean bill of health. But I wish you (and all of us) medically sound hugs in the near futureSo much differing advice. Information changing weekly, if not daily.Alisa T.
I hear you. I try to figure out ways to visit my parents and help out and the data and warnings keep me away. I’d happily swab. But my friends and family in the ER healthcare industry would say that testing is scarce, and not reliable, even when they know a patient is infected. So I keep my safe at home and hope for the best. I’m not good like you in terms of gaming and that sort of thing and I’m following you in terms of how you deal with the isolation. I have a partner and canine roommate for the challenge, but you’re doing some things I would never venture into.