Day 5 - covid advice/handholding needed

[Fambo Number Mive]

So today is five days since I tested positive for covid (not counting the day I took the test) and my test still shows positive immediately. Presumably I'm still full of covid.

Getting concerned that for the past three days I've had a strong positive immediately despite my symptoms reducing. I don't understand why this is happening - shouldn't the positive line be getting fainter by now? I'm not sneezing any more and my sense of smell is back.

Were any of you in the same position? If so, how long did it take your positive line to get fainter?

I know that even if I am still testing positive 10 days after the date of the test I am no longer counted as infectious and can leave the house - but what happens if I then need to do a test to see family? Do I then test every day since the 10 day mark and then assume that, unless I test negative at some point and then test positive again, the positive test isn't a new infection.

I barely see my family enough as it is and am really hoping that I'll be able to see them in early November and I won't still be getting positive tests by then. The last few weeks, in particular the last few days, have really fucked with my mental health and I really want to get a negative test as soon as possible and get out and do things again.

[shiftwork2]

I had a strong positive on day 8, absolutely nothing on day 9.  It doesn't fade away linearly.  I haven't heard of anyone testing positive after day 11 so it's highly likely you'll be fine.

[Fambo Number Mive]

Thanks, much appreciated.

[willbo]

i tested negative 8 or 9 days after first feeling ill and testing pos i think

[purlieu]

There's a lot of virus for your body to eject, so after a few days it's likely just that that's turning up. I took my test on my second day of symptoms, and I tested positive for a further ten days after that; five of those days my only symptoms were my long Covid ones, which only really start after the acute stage, so I wouldn't worry too much about continuing to test positive for a for more days yet. If I'd tested on the day I started feeling ill I would have had 12 positive days.

[Fambo Number Mive]

Day 7 and still testing positive and I fucked up and put a delivery driver at risk.

I did an online food order and asked for it to be bagged and left on my front doorstep but when the confirmation came through it left no confirmation of that.

When the delivery van turned up outside my house I panicked, my phone upstairs was going but when I ran to answer it it stopped ringing. I was worried about the van driving away and not getting my food for the week (it's essential items, not like I'd ordered a kebab or something) so I left the front door open and stood well back and tried ringing the number again. It rang as the driver put the crates on the step and he asked me if the covid note I'd left was still current. Feeling like a cunt I said yes, I was double masked and at least 1 metre away from him, probably 2 metres but hard to say. He said the order was all there, to hang onto the boxes until next time and to get better soon but I feel really ashamed of myself for not having kept the door closed and hoped they would leave it on the step (it wasn't bagged like I had asked for).

I feel really ashamed for having panicked and put that driver at risk (he didn't have a mask on but he probably assumed I would have kept the door closed) and feel to embarrassed to order from that delivery company next week so now they will assume I am keeping the crates and charge me for them.

Might as well call me Boris Johnson, just so hard to think clearly at the moment. No excuse though. I'm such a cunt.

[flotemysost]

Fambo, you're not a cunt at all - you're still taking precautions by wearing a mask (two in fact) and you clearly do care deeply about others' safety. It's bleak, but people in public-facing jobs have been left at the mercy of others' actions - there will be plenty of customers who are infectious with covid without realising it, and won't be wearing masks or thinking about distancing at all. It's understandable to feel frustrated and upset by the situation, but the way things have been handled isn't your fault in any way, and I'm fairly sure you're nothing like Boris Johnson! I imagine a very brief interaction like that, wearing two masks, with some distance and with fresh air coming in, and hopefully past peak infectiousness, is unlikely to have been too risky - definitely not worth feeling this bad about.

Being isolated for any amount of time can be really tough on anyone's mental health (and I know you've been through some other shitty things recently) so try not to be so hard on yourself - I know I definitely went a bit nuts purely from not seeing anyone or going outside. It's frustrating not knowing how soon you'll be out (I was testing positive for 10 days with my first dose, and only 4 days the second time, weirdly) but you're not doing anything to feel guilty about.

[Fambo Number Mive]

Thank you, you are very kind.

[Glebe]

Get well soon Fambo.

[shiftwork2]

Day 7 and still testing positive and I fucked up and put a delivery driver at risk.

I did an online food order and asked for it to be bagged and left on my front doorstep but when the confirmation came through it left no confirmation of that.

When the delivery van turned up outside my house I panicked, my phone upstairs was going but when I ran to answer it it stopped ringing. I was worried about the van driving away and not getting my food for the week (it's essential items, not like I'd ordered a kebab or something) so I left the front door open and stood well back and tried ringing the number again. It rang as the driver put the crates on the step and he asked me if the covid note I'd left was still current. Feeling like a cunt I said yes, I was double masked and at least 1 metre away from him, probably 2 metres but hard to say. He said the order was all there, to hang onto the boxes until next time and to get better soon but I feel really ashamed of myself for not having kept the door closed and hoped they would leave it on the step (it wasn't bagged like I had asked for).

I feel really ashamed for having panicked and put that driver at risk (he didn't have a mask on but he probably assumed I would have kept the door closed) and feel to embarrassed to order from that delivery company next week so now they will assume I am keeping the crates and charge me for them.

Might as well call me Boris Johnson, just so hard to think clearly at the moment. No excuse though. I'm such a cunt.

Chill the fuck out, seriously.  Looks like you've taken the good advice from flotemysost.  You have nothing to feel bad about.  A few more days and you're done.