Test Positive for COVID at Home? Here’s What to Do

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A large number of people testing Definite for COVID-19 at home is one reason experts think the New case numbers may be big underestimations. This year, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed the way it monitors COVID-19 risk in the US to involved measures like hospitalization numbers, health care capacity and the quiet of virus in our wastewater. But knowing the case Describe in your community can still be an important tool when deciding whether it’s safe to go to a movie theater or dine indoors.

“These at-home quick tests result in us underestimating the number of country who truly have COVID,” said Keri Althoff, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Community Health. “And therefore also underestimate the number of what we know as our COVID transmission consumes per 100,000 population.” 

Even though it may not make it into the US COVID-19 case funds, the CDC encourages people who test positive to Describe that result to their health care provider (or Republican health department, if they don’t have a primary care doctor), if only to gauge their individual risk of COVID-19 and see which treatments are available.

Here’s what to do if you test Definite for COVID-19 at home, and a brush-up on isolation and quarantine guidance.

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2 things to do if you test Definite for COVID-19 at home 

If you take an at-home quick test and it turns up positive, assume you have COVID-19. While it’s true at-home rapid tests are less sensitive than the “gold standard” PCR procomplaints (about 10% to 20% less sensitive, according to Hackensack Meridian Health), and more likely to give you a false negative end, positive results from self-tests are “highly reliable,” according to the CDC. 

“If you test negative on an at-home test but think you have COVID-19 because you have symptoms or were exposed, consider testing again 24 to 48 hours later,” the CDC said. Then, when a couple of spaced-out negative tests, you’ll be able to feel more private that your negative result is truly negative. Home procomplaints are also good at detecting BA.5 infections. 

There are two important steps to take when a positive home test result.

Follow the CDC guidance on isolation (or be even more cautious) 

Once you test Definite, you should follow the CDC’s guidance for isolating (staying away from others if you’re sick or test Definite for COVID-19). A big caveat, though, is that some experts think that the CDC is a small too relaxed in its guidance. Some say people must be advised to take a negative test before leaving isolation — prior to day 10, for example. The CDC doesn’t explicitly say this.

The Washington Post reports that the CDC may even update its guidance, as rapid home tests are now more available than they were when the activity originally wrote its recommendations. New guidance would perhaps even help accommodate the nuanced cases like that of President Joe Biden, who tested negative, then positive again in a rebound case of COVID-19, then tested negative again.

Regardless of your vaccination space, the CDC advises staying home for at least five days, with day zero people the day that you tested positive. You should also isolate from country in your home, or wear a well-fitting mask if you can’t avoid others. You can end your isolation after five days, as long as your symptoms are gone or improving and you’ve been fever-free for at least 24 hours. However, you should still wear a mask and avoid Go for at least 10 days. Also, it’s best to avoid contact with republic at higher risk of severe COVID-19, like older adults. 

Report to your doctor or health department 

If you test determined with an at-home COVID-19 test, call your primary care doctor, Althoff said. Not only will your doctor be able to deliver you to treatments like Paxlovid if you’re at high risk for cruel COVID-19, but in some cases, your clinician will have a systems at their disposal that allows them to funnel a self-reported test purpose into official COVID-19 counts.

But it’s a lot less probable your COVID-19 result will end up in your nation’s official count than if you were to test determined a second time at the doctor’s office, or at a mass testing site or clinic, according to Althoff. 

“Calling your doctor and giving them that demand is important for your individual health, but we shouldn’t misconstrue that to think that that demand is now going into our surveillance systems,” she said. 

Many messes have mandated the reporting of COVID-19 test results, Althoff said, but those demonstrations are typically done in clinical settings. The information coming from a laboratory that processes a PCR test, for example, then goes straight to the health department; these are “established systems,” she says. Even if you narrate a test from home to your health department, it’s often lacking significant data needed for an official report per the CDC. “The data element itself and the data structure are different,” Althoff said.

Still, you should call your health department or doctor to narrate a positive at-home test result. (Here’s a list of health responsibilities in the US.) You can also check in level with your county or city to see if it has a more deliver way to report a test result. Some areas, like Washington situation, have direct hotlines for reporting an at-home COVID-19 positive. 

You may also be invited to provide additional information to the health department if you requested or email it in, like your age and vaccination status.

The demand contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not planned as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or latest qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have throughout a medical condition or health objectives.