How long after having covid can I test positive?

[elizabethalice]

Hiya, I know nobody will know this answer for definite but it would he good to know anyone else who has recovered from covid and then been tested for it, or if anyone has a rough idea about how long it takes to test negative.

I had covid start of January (tested positive 1st Jan) and had a mild case, although did have some lingering fatigue and chest tightness until mid/ late feb.

I'm going to see my gran next week. She lives in an elderly home and has dementia and I haven't seen her for well over a year. They will test me before I go in and as long as its negative, I will be able to see her.

I was wondering if theres a chance I'll test positive still from January? I don't know why but I feel very anxious about it, both because I know if I do I'll worry I've infected the care home staff who I interacted with, and also because I think I'd need to isolate even if its still positive from last time? I think I'm just getting bad memories from last time I got tested too and its causing my anxiety to spike.

If anyone knows anything that would be great! I know it'll have been nearly 4 months so I'm way way past the infectious stage, so I shouldn't worry about that, but I guess my anxiety is trying to find something to grab onto.

Thanks

[Fishmanpa]

Hiya, I know nobody will know this answer for definite but it would he good to know anyone else who has recovered from covid and then been tested for it, or if anyone has a rough idea about how long it takes to test negative.

This is an instance where Google is useful ;)

According to the CDC: CDC updated its isolation guidance based on the latest science about COVID-19 showing that people can continue to test positive for up to 3 months after diagnosis and not be infectious to others. It can take 1–3 weeks after the first symptoms appear for antibodies to develop in the body. Since it often takes about a week for symptoms to appear after getting infected with SARS-CoV-2, antibodies could develop about 2-3 weeks after infection.

Which is useful information and the reason the CDC recommends following the protocols for at least a month after getting vaccinated.

FMP

[elizabethalice]

Thanks! I couldn't find any information on Google - maybe because I'm in the UK so CDC wouldn't come up and our equivalent didn't have much info!

I guess it'll have been over 3 months so it should be fine - I'll just have to wait and see I suppose!

Thanks for looking it up
, appreciate it!