Another COVID testing question

[perchy]

We are within 90 days of our April cruise.

My husband thinks he had COVID in December but had mild symptoms. He did not test but it was easy for him to isolate.

Is the thinking that he (or any one of us really) could test positive at the port even though none of us are sick?

Are we too late now to get tested?

 

[braysmommy]

He would be outside the 90 day exempt from testing with a note from his doctor if he thinks he had it in December. If you test now and are positive you would need to quarantine. Are you all planning to test prior to leaving home for your April cruise?

 

[dreynolds1982]

Anybody can have asymptomatic Covid so there's always a chance (though statistically a very remote chance) that you or someone in your family could test positive at the port without realizing you have it. I would just advise to do some testing as you get closer to the cruise just for peace of mind. For example, I plan on doing a test probably around 2 weeks before my cruise. That way, if I tested positive (from asymptomatic or from a lingering positive from an old infection) I would still have time to try and get the exemption. I also plan on doing a rapid at-home test or two a couple of days before and maybe even the night before or day of. You can now request 4 free at-home rapid tests from the Government. I'm going to save a couple for this purpose. Those tests can give false negatives, so it's still no guarantee, but at least if it was positive I would know before I was at the port.

Alllll of that being said, the odds of you randomly testing positive with asymptomatic covid at the port are pretty slim, especially given by April, the general thinking is that this Omicron wave should be very subsided by then, so case counts should be back down MUCH lower, so your odds of contracting it should be even slimmer.

We cruise the last week of March so I'm keeping a watchful eye on all of this too. My wife just had covid but she falls just within the 90 day exemption so we lucked out there, but I isolated with her the entire time and never got it so, go figure.

 

[perchy]

I plan on doing a test probably around 2 weeks before my cruise. That way, if I tested positive (from asymptomatic or from a lingering positive from an old infection) I would still have time to try and get the exemption.

What does this mean? How do you get an exemption? I think I don't understand the 90-day thing.

I also plan on doing a rapid at-home test or two a couple of days before and maybe even the night before or day of. You can now request 4 free at-home rapid tests from the Government. I'm going to save a couple for this purpose. Those tests can give false negatives, so it's still no guarantee, but at least if it was positive I would know before I was at the port.

These are the antigen tests, right?


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[perchy]

He would be outside the 90 day exempt from testing with a note from his doctor if he thinks he had it in December. If you test now and are positive you would need to quarantine. Are you all planning to test prior to leaving home for your April cruise?

I don't think I understand the 90-day thing. If he tests positive now, and has a note from the doctor, that lets him skip testing at the port in April? (He is fully vaccinated.)

 

[dianerroy]

Correct me if I am wrong-the testing at the port is a rapid test right? Which means it only shows an active infection-it's not a PCR test which can be positive for 90 days after an active infection.

 

[Freeman867]

I don't think I understand the 90-day thing. If he tests positive now, and has a note from the doctor, that lets him skip testing at the port in April? (He is fully vaccinated.)

This part's sticky, because he could possibly test positive still, but you know it was from an exposure in December, not late January. I'm not sure how the doctor would handle that, and it would definitely be outside the spirit of the 90 day rule. The reason they have the 90 day rule is the CDC has noticed people who had COVID but recovered continue to test positive on the sensitive PCR tests for up to 90 days, so testing at the port within those 90 days could show a positive result even though you're not actively infected anymore.

 

[Freeman867]

Correct me if I am wrong-the testing at the port is a rapid test right? Which means it only shows an active infection-it's not a PCR test which can be positive for 90 days after an active infection.

The testing at the port is a rapid PCR test, not an antigen test.

 

[dianerroy]

wow that doesn't make sense at all-my whole family had covid the first week of January-2 symptomatic, 3 non symptomatic-all confirmed by rapid antigen tests only. Our cruise is the first week of March-some of us may still test positive if its PCR based-what should one do in this situation?

 

[perchy]

Correct me if I am wrong-the testing at the port is a rapid test right? Which means it only shows an active infection-it's not a PCR test which can be positive for 90 days after an active infection.

So his test at the port can be negative at the port and not false positive?

I don’t want to set us up for failure. That because of an assumed positive in December,I want to make sure we do what we can now… or at least before we get to the port. Not that we get to the port and someone says “well of course you’d test positive now if you had it in December, but since you have no proof, you can’t sail.”

 

[perchy]

wow that doesn't make sense at all-my whole family had covid the first week of January-2 symptomatic, 3 non symptomatic-all confirmed by rapid antigen tests only. Our cruise is the first week of March-some of us may still test positive if its PCR based-what should one do in this situation?

This is exactly what I’m trying to figure out too. At what point is a positive test guaranteed after you’ve already had it. Or assumed had it.

 

[Freeman867]

wow that doesn't make sense at all-my whole family had covid the first week of January-2 symptomatic, 3 non symptomatic-all confirmed by rapid antigen tests only. Our cruise is the first week of March-some of us may still test positive if its PCR based-what should one do in this situation?

It makes a lot of sense to do a PCR. It covers DCL for those cases where a rapid antigen test shows a false negative because the viral load is too low. I know especially with Omicron, antigen tests are having issues catching the asymptomatic COVID cases.

That said, your best bet is to go get a PCR test if you can. Not all cases still show positive after recovery. If you are still testing positive, work with your doctor to get a safe to travel letter.

 

[Freeman867]

This is exactly what I’m trying to figure out too. At what point is a positive test guaranteed after you’ve already had it. Or assumed had it.

Everyone's different. There's no A+B=C answer here. The only way to know is to test.

 

[braysmommy]

This is exactly what I’m trying to figure out too. At what point is a positive test guaranteed after you’ve already had it. Or assumed had it.

You can test positive on a PCR test for up to 90 days after first symptoms.

 

[lanejudy]

This is exactly what I’m trying to figure out too. At what point is a positive test guaranteed after you’ve already had it. Or assumed had it.

It varies. Some will stop testing positive a week later, some may still test positive up to 90 days later. Since he was positive (or assumed positive) in December, and your cruise isn't until April, he should be fine.

 

[dreynolds1982]

What does this mean? How do you get an exemption? I think I don't understand the 90-day thing.



These are the antigen tests, right?

To get an "exemption" you have to have tested positive (with official documentation showing the positive test - i.e. not an at-home test) AND have a note from a doctor certifying that you are "fully recovered" and "cleared for domestic and international travel." Your positive test has to have occurred within 90-days of your cruise (but cannot be 12 or less days from the cruise as that is too soon to have fully recovered). So, if you tested positive 95 days from your cruise, you would not qualify.

And yeah, the freebie gov't tests are rapid antigens, so they are not the best and can show false negatives. However, they are free and better than nothing. I plan on getting a rapid PCR test (same test they give you at the port) the morning we leave for Orlando, and also have access to mail-in 48-hr PCR lab tests since I'm a gov't employee, so I will probably do one of those say 20 days out or so in case I have a lingering positive from an old infection I did not know about.

Basically I'm going to test myself as many times as I can in the days leading up. I have not been an overtester, and during the entirety of the pandemic have only been tested 3 times (all because my work required them for me to come back due to a close contact). I am, however, prone to stress and overthinking so I'm hoping the tests before will help give me SOME peace of mind that I won't hit positive at the port. Or at least give me time to adjust my plans if needed.

 

[dreynolds1982]

Alllll that in my previous post being said, I'm really keeping hope alive, slim as it may be, that by my March 28 cruise they will drop the testing requirement all together. England just did (you only have to be vaccinated, no longer test, to enter the country) so who knows!

 

[perchy]

It varies. Some will stop testing positive a week later, some may still test positive up to 90 days later. Since he was positive (or assumed positive) in December, and your cruise isn't until April, he should be fine.

Sorry.... fine how? Fine to delay testing until we get to the port? Or fine to test now and, if positive but recovered, fine to skip testing at the port with a doctor's note?

 

[Freeman867]

Sorry.... fine how? Fine to delay testing until we get to the port? Or fine to test now and, if positive but recovered, fine to skip testing at the port with a doctor's note?

He'll be fine in that there is a very, very slim chance that 4 months post infection he'll still test positive with a lingering case of COVID that a PCR test will pick up.

 

[perchy]

To get an "exemption" you have to have tested positive (with official documentation showing the positive test - i.e. not an at-home test) AND have a note from a doctor certifying that you are "fully recovered" and "cleared for domestic and international travel." Your positive test has to have occurred within 90-days of your cruise (but cannot be 12 or less days from the cruise as that is too soon to have fully recovered). So, if you tested positive 95 days from your cruise, you would not qualify.

And yeah, the freebie gov't tests are rapid antigens, so they are not the best and can show false negatives. However, they are free and better than nothing. I plan on getting a rapid PCR test (same test they give you at the port) the morning we leave for Orlando, and also have access to mail-in 48-hr PCR lab tests since I'm a gov't employee, so I will probably do one of those say 20 days out or so in case I have a lingering positive from an old infection I did not know about.

Basically I'm going to test myself as many times as I can in the days leading up. I have not been an overtester, and during the entirety of the pandemic have only been tested 3 times (all because my work required them for me to come back due to a close contact). I am, however, prone to stress and overthinking so I'm hoping the tests before will help give me SOME peace of mind that I won't hit positive at the port. Or at least give me time to adjust my plans if needed.

So to repeat what I think I'm reading, if my husband gets a PCR now and tests positive, but then has a note from a doctor certifying he is fully recovered and clearly for travel, he'd skip testing at the port in April?

But if he gets a PCR now and tests negative, he'd still have to test at the port?

This is so confusing. I really hate COVID and can't wait until it's gone for good.