COVID.......Bummer

Beachfan

So, our younger son, typical middle child (only one with braces, stitches, broken bones, missed National Honor Society by one person, only luck is bad luck, etc., etc.....) is enroute home from TX to PA for a quick visit with his Dad in MC.  I just had a call that a caregiver in DH's cottage tested positive for COVID, so all residents were tested.  DH is the only positive case.  WHAT??? No symptoms; this is the guy who retired from 45 years of teaching with all of his sick days intact.  I have never known him to have so much as a fever and maybe 5 colds in 53 years of marriage.  I'm thinking that it's probably a false positive, but the deed is done.  

We will do a quick pop-in visit to his room, N95 masks, face shields and fully gowned.   DH doesn't know us on a good day and here we come dressed like aliens.  I am not worried about DH; he will outlive all of us.  But poor "Mikey"; he always gets the short end of the stick.  Not a rant, not a question, not seeking advice; just whining. 

Ed1937

Beachfan, you have plenty to whine about. I hope DH keeps doing well, and "Mikey" will at least get to visit, even if not on the best of terms.

Crushed

Actual false positives are quite rare.  What is often reported is conversion from positive to negative on antigen (household) tests as the virus load declines

False negatives are common

ImMaggieMae

FWIW, I know 3 people who experienced false positives in the past month and a half. All were retested at least once and turned out to be negative. They were tested when traveling. Any chance of a retest?

Joe C.

Beachfan, That is a bummer! Would a window visit work better where you would not need mask, face shield & gown? Hope you husband retest negative.

Quilting brings calm

That is a bummer for your son’s visit with Dad.  However, you DO get to visit with your son.  

So make sure you two go eat somewhere where you would not have gone with your husband due to his condition.

French

Beachfan, I hope your son will be able to see his father in good conditions.

My partner is also covid+ in his MC. No symptom also. It will be finished when I will go there in 2 weeks. I just thought « that’s done ».

Crushed

False positives are very very rare

Gans JS, Goldfarb A, Agrawal AK, Sennik S, Stein J, Rosella L. False-Positive Results in Rapid Antigen Tests for SARS-CoV-2. JAMA. 2022;327(5):485–486. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.24355

Results

There were 903 408 rapid antigen tests conducted for 537 workplaces, with 1322 positive results (0.15%), of which 1103 had PCR information. Approximately two-thirds of screens were trackable with a lot number. The number of false-positive results was 462 (0.05% of screens and 42% of positive test results with PCR information). Of these, 278 false-positive results (60%) occurred in 2 workplaces 675 km apart run by different companies between September 25 and October 8, 2021. All of the false-positive test results from these 2 workplaces were drawn from a single batch of Abbott’s Panbio COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test Device.

Discussion

The overall rate of false-positive results among the total rapid antigen test screens for SARS-CoV-2 was very low, consistent with other, smaller studies