Covid-19 Test: Negative
Yesterday Hawk learned that she'd been exposed to a coworker with a confirmed case of Covid-19. ( See previous blog.) She was able to get tested within a few hours. This morning the test result came back negative.
This isn't quite an all-clear signal, unfortunately. Tests have a "false negative" rate. The doc warned this can happen when a person is tested before showing strong symptoms. The virus may not have spread enough within the body to show on the test. So we'll continue to watch for symptoms over the next few days. Moreover, there's a need to avoid going out in public even after a negative test result. We're waiting on a followup conversation with the doctor to understand how many days we need to observe total lockdown.
UPDATE: Guidance from the doctor is that with a negative test result Hawk should continue isolating for a few days after symptoms disappear. She's tentatively planning for next Tuesday to be her first day out of the house.
This isn't quite an all-clear signal, unfortunately. Tests have a "false negative" rate. The doc warned this can happen when a person is tested before showing strong symptoms. The virus may not have spread enough within the body to show on the test. So we'll continue to watch for symptoms over the next few days. Moreover, there's a need to avoid going out in public even after a negative test result. We're waiting on a followup conversation with the doctor to understand how many days we need to observe total lockdown.
UPDATE: Guidance from the doctor is that with a negative test result Hawk should continue isolating for a few days after symptoms disappear. She's tentatively planning for next Tuesday to be her first day out of the house.