I read these posts, and some were a help, some I should've read more carefully.
My post is a cautionary one about the best laid plans going awry. We had out business/pleasure trip planned, but at our second stop in Germany (after Mainz) my husband tested himself because he was having symptoms that seemed exactly like previous bouts of sinusitis. He was positive for Covid, unfortunately. Thankfully he was able to conclude his business with the German company remotely. We had travel insurance through GeoBlue. I'd be interested in others' opinions on this company. A doctor did return his call several hours later, asked about his symptoms, and suggested that there was not much for him to do but isolate and hydrate. The doctor suggested we did not need a second hotel room for me. He was doing better in 3 days or so, but during that time, even though masked (meals in the room could have been my exposure, not sure), I also tested positive. My course was a little lengthier, as it involved a fever as well, but we were grateful for room service, an extraordinarly thoughtful staff, and Uber eats on occasion. Neither one of us required any further medical services, but we were very concerned about not futhering the spread, as we have a friend who is immune compromised, so we know how that feels.
We extended in the same hotel for our quarantine period, but of course, our follow on plans to travel to Barcelona on 3/26, and to another business appointment in Madrid on 3/28 had to be canceled, as well as plans we had made for our time there.
We are extremely lucky that we had hotel points, and that we were staying in a modest cost location.
And, we are also going to be able to see at least Barcelona for a few days before flying home, as we were able to change our previous flight from Duesseldorf Airport to Barcelona to a new date. I will have completed a 24 hour period of no fever before leaving isolation as the CDC has recommended. So, a chance for a few days in Barcelona as consolation (no Madrid), along with gratitude for a return to health.
Our quandary now is that our initial testing was done with home tests- big cautionary lesson there- should have gotten BinaxNow before leaving the US, or made ourselves go to one of the many, many testing centers in each city we visited, so as to have an record of a positive test. Oh, and I have learned that if you already have a positive antigen test (a potentially less sensitive test), there is no need to double check it with a PCR test (a more sensitive test), it will just be positive also. We've read that false positives are rare. We now need either a negative test before returning home, or a recovery letter, but not for transit between Spain and Germany. We also made sure to read the CDC information directly from their website, to counter misinformation if it arises. The CDC actually responded promptly when we send a question to clarify.
I just wanted to encourage people to use our experience to continue to think realistically and carefully about their alternative plans for an isolation/illness period, and decide if you can tolerate and/or afford a drastic change in plans. It's possible you will be fine. My husband's associate was not affected, as we traveled separately during the first par t of our trip. Good luck...do the hand hygiene and pack a thermometer, lots of masks, and some tests, you never know.