Can Someone Test Negative And Later Test Positive On A Viral Test For COVID-19?
COVID-19Common questionCan someone test negative and later test positive on a viral test for COVID-19?Yes, it is possible. You may test negative if the sample was collected early in your infection and test positive later during this illness. You could also be exposed to COVID-19 after the test and get infected then. Even if you test negative, you still should take steps to protect yourself and others. See Testing for Current Infection for more information.
How long can you test positive for COVID-19?
>People who have recovered from COVID-19 can continue to test positive for up to 3 months after their infection.
Requirement for Proof of Negative COVID-19 Test or Documentation of Recovery from COVID-19
What are consequences of a false negative COVID-19 test?
Risks to a patient of a false negative test result include: delayed or lack of supportive treatment, lack of monitoring of infected individuals and their household or other close contacts for symptoms resulting in increased risk of spread of COVID-19 within the community, or other unintended adverse events.
CDC 2019 Novel Coronavirus (nCoV) Real-Time RT-PCR Diagnostic Panel - Healthcare Provider Fact Sheet
What does it mean if I test negative for COVID-19?
See full answerA negative test result means that the virus that causes COVID-19 was not found in your sample. However, it is possible for this test to give a negative result that is incorrect (false negative) in some people with COVID- 19. You might test negative if the sample was collected early during your infection.You could also be exposed to COVID-19 after your sample was collected and then have become infected. In particular, people infected with COVID-19 but who have no symptoms may not s
COVID-19 RT-PCR Test - Patient Fact Sheet
What is a false positive rate for a virus test?
The false positive rate — that is, how often the test says you have the virus when you actually do not — should be close to zero. Most false-positive results are thought to be due to lab contamination or other problems with how the lab has performed the test, not limitations of the test itself.
Which test is best for COVID-19?