I have been exposed to COVID.
My wife tested positive. I test negative.
My college reunion had all the elements of a super-spreader event, done among people worried about super-spreader events.
The people most worried about getting COVID didn't attend it. They guessed correctly that there was no possible way for us to meet, eat, drink, and talk in a way that was fully "safe." They knew there would be crowds of people, all of them exhaling every few seconds. Masks went on and off. Indoors, people wore masks--often K-95 masks--when we weren't eating. There was lots of food and drink--eight meals in two and a half days. In crowded places people speak up, which projects air. There is lots of hugging and handshaking.
The weather was warm and dry so some of the visiting took place in breezy tents, but some of it was inside in big groups. We met in capacious cathedral-type meeting halls with 100-foot ceilings, but it was still a crowd. We agreed--scout's honor--to test ourselves every day, and I presume people did, but a negative COVID test doesn't mean someone doesn't have COVID and is not infectious.
COVID is everywhere and anywhere. Being vaccinated and boosted is very good--but imperfect--protection against getting seriously ill, but not against getting and spreading COVID. My wife is vaccinated twice and boosted twice. She has symptoms, primarily a sore throat and tiredness, which started Sunday morning, seven days after the start of the start of our cross-country trip. She noticed the symptoms, tested, and the test showed "positive."
Who knows where she got infected? Maybe she was infected before we left. Maybe she got it standing in line at the Medford airport. The line for the Delta flight was painfully slow and people were crowded next to each other. The airport terminal ceilings are high and there is a lot of volume in the building, but few people other than my wife and me wore masks. The airport terminal crowd was like the worst and most crowded of situations at the reunion--except that at the reunion people wore masks. There were similar unmasked scrums when we changed planes in Seattle, and again in Boston when we picked up luggage--and then coming home on Wednesday. We wore masks in the plane. Few others did.
Debra could have been infected anywhere, anytime. Debra, with symptoms and a positive test, knows her status better than I do. She knows she has it. She has a timetable.
My situation is ambiguous. I might be infected and contagious right now. Debra and I have been side by side, sharing the same house. I am thoroughly exposed to her. The incubation period is up to two weeks. People who are infected usually show symptoms in three to six days, but it can be longer. People are most contagious during the two days before symptoms start and then for the next three days. A positive COVID test may come after symptoms start, not before. I feel great, but I might be just as contagious as Debra.
The guidelines at the providence.org website say I don't need to quarantine to protect others. I worry that I am a walking danger to others and I keep self-monitoring to see if maybe I have a twinge of headache or shortness of breath or anything. Providence health systems say I would be a responsible citizen if I wear a mask around others and keep testing. I am doing more than that. I am keeping my distance from people for a few days. I find it hard to believe that Debra can have it and I do not.
I am pretty sure I had Covid about a month ago ... but at the time I experienced symptoms, I tested negative. My wife also had symptoms, but also tested negative. We quarantined, anyway, and the symptoms subsided. However, six days after being almost completely symptom free, my wife just couldn't move around without extreme pain in her limbs and fatigue. I administered a rapid test, and she tested positive. I then tested myself, and had a very very very faint positive test (had to have my wife look to confirm it). We called our doctor and he prescribed paxlovid. My wife did the five day regimen and recovered nicely, and now tests negative. I took one complete dose of the regimen (one evening, one morning) and by that afternoon my blood pressure had spiked to 225/110 and I went to ER. All was good and I came home (after midnight) with an option of continuing the medication and monitoring the blood pressure for other (stroke or heart-attack) symptoms OR stop taking the medication and struggle through the lingering but minimal covid symptoms I was still having. I chose the latter. Blood pressure is good and symptoms are gone. But on the next Wednesday -- 26 days after first symptoms and 13 days after testing positive -- I had a physical therapy appointment and tested myself to be sure I was safe to go. I was still positive.
Apparently, I am one of those who no longer have the virus but still have some of the virus in my sinuses, which the test picks up. My doctor (and the CDC) says the virus will not grow, so I can go out and be with folks ... but maybe not. There does not seem to be any clarity on the question. The Democratic Party of Oregon held its 2nd Quarter Central Committee meeting in the Dalles this last weekend ... I needed to attend because the caucus of which I am a vice-chair was presenting a resolution that had been tabled in Roseberg when no one from the Caucus wanted to attend a live meeting ... my doctors said I could attend, and the leadership of the Party said I could attend, so I went. But I was truly apologetic and kept as much distance as possible between myself and others, and masked up everywhere I went (except for the eating bit). Still, the guidelines are not very clear.
Thankfully I am still testing negative, and had contact with a lot of folks since I drove the 750 miles from Ohio and visited cousins in Massachusetts. My blood type is 0 which apparently affords some protection, A does not, so am curious as to your type as well as Debra.