The Common Question, ‘How Long Can I Be Infected Before I Test Positive for Covid-19?
Research has shown that people may be infected for about two days before developing Covid-19 symptoms, which include loss of taste (feel) and smell (anosmia), fever, difficulty breathing, coughing, and fatigue.
In fact, right before symptoms develop is when people are most likely to be most contagious, says Dr. Werner Bischoff, an infectious disease specialist at Wake Forest University, North Carolina in the United States.
Professor Yeşim Taşova from the Turkish Health Ministry’s Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Council and Head of the Infectious Diseases Department at Çukurova University (CU) Balcalı Hospital in southern Adana province also previously said the first 48 hours of illness were critical when it came to transmission.
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As the super spreaders pointed out, people who never experience symptoms can spread the infection too.
This is a problem because many people will never seek a test unless they experience symptoms or know they have been exposed.
Patients were also found to carry a higher viral load within the first week of onset of symptoms, meaning they were more likely to pass the virus on to others if they were not wearing masks in public.
But there’s a more complicated part to the question: What if someone finds out they have it but their virus test results are negative — is it still contagious? The answer, maybe.
A negative test in less than seven days after exposure “is a very, very bad indicator of whether you have the virus,” says Dr. Alan Wells of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in the United States.
Some tests are less accurate than others, and we have to take the incubation period into account, he said.
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A negative test between seven and 10 days of exposure is a better indicator, says Wells, but even some people may not test positive until much later.
Wells recommends that if we work in an environment with a high viral load or credible exposure, such as in a market, crowd, or densely populated environment, masks should be worn at all times.
If you feel something wrong with your body (“Listen to your body,” says Wells), go to your local health center for testing.
Experts have suggested seven to 21 days of self-quarantine or isolation for people who have had contact with confirmed positive cases.
