Hi! I'm wondering if anyone has had experience getting tested for COVID 19 and receiving a positive result? My husband is afraid we may get a false positive and would like to know how soon one can be retested? Do you have to quarantine for 10 days or can you retest the next day? Right away? Your thoughts? Expereince?
Thanks!!
I would assume that it depends on the type of test you did. Those quick tests only have a limited reliability (both ways). Here in Germany at least, it's the PCR test that counts. If you get tested positive with one of those quick tests, you are required to get tested again as soon as possible with a PCR test to confirm or disprove the result.
As far as my own experience goes, let me just quote what I wrote in another thread. It's sort of the opposite experience:
A friend had caught Covid in spring, and she was continually getting
tested by her husband who is a doctor, so those tests were not done
amateurishly. Even when she had a fever and was coughing like crazy
those tests kept being negative. Only the PCR test turned out
positive.
... and that of course was the test result that counted.
Thank you Anna!!
Let me emphasize that the quarantine rules differ from country to country, and also sometimes even within a country, depending on other factors (like: are you vaccinated, have you been to a virus mutant region), so you better make sure what the rules are for the particular country you are in.
Speaking for Germany only: If you are quick tested positive, you are required to notify the local health authorities (Gesundheitsamt). They will tell you how and where to get the official PCR test. You can't just show up at any random test center along your way because - as far as I am aware - you are going to have to quarantine from the moment you get that positive quick test result.
BTW, here in Germany at least, that particular PCR test is free because it's government mandated.
A false positive with a PCR test is very, very unlikely. Just avoid the rapid tests. In Austria, the authorities take the rapid test results with a huge grain of salt. Of course if you have a positive result from one of those tests, then you'll need to stay at home until the PCR results come through.
Well, false positives can happen, but the greater danger lies in false negatives. But it is certainly true that these rapid tests need to be taken with a huge grain of salt. I just heard a report from scientists who did research on what these rapid tests really achieved to work against the pandemic, and the percentage of infections actually discovered by these tests was ridiculously low, especially when weighed against their costs.
What they did do though was give people a false sense of security. They provided a massive number of false negatives (as with my friend, see above), so people would continue moving about, passing the disease on to others.
It certainly didn't improve things that in many test centers, these tests were not done by medical staff but by people who had only done some sort of online crash course.
First, although my husband and I have (thankfully) not gotten a positive finding, we had good experiences with our Abbott Binax online proctored tests at home. After swabbing, and inserting the swab into a chanel in the test card where a few drops of testing liquid were added, you wait 15 minutes. If a single pinkish-red line develops on the card, you’ve tested negative. If two lines show up, it’s positive. That got us into Italy 3 weeks ago, and tests in 2 weeks are expected to get us back into the USA, no concerns. Here’s a report you might find useful - tests are as reliable (84% or better) as the vaccinations have been:
https://www.nebraskamed.com/COVID/how-accurate-are-at-home-rapid-tests-for-covid-19
