Resource COVID19 V - The Info Thread

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Felt no side effects with either of my first two shots but my booster... yikes. pain down my whole arm, swelling in my arm pit (lymph node apparently) and had body aches for a couple days, only just subsided today. Imagine if I had the real thing. I'd be a statistic I reckon. I'll get every jab recommended from here on.
 
Wife returned a positive RAT this morning. Very faint line. She took a PCR too as she's classed as a critical worker and they like them to do PCRs too as they're more accurate (so she can get back into the classroom straight away if RAT was false positive). As a pregnant critical worker with a legit symptom (sore throat), they said her test result will be fast-tracked.

She's convinced the RAT was a false positive. We'll see I guess.

Myself and our son have no symptoms but obviously both stuck at home now too.

Good news - RAT was a false positive!

I know there's a lot of reports that cases are in reality higher than reported due to asymptomatic cases, people not testing etc, but I wonder how much that is offset by false positive RATs?
 

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Good news - RAT was a false positive!

I know there's a lot of reports that cases are in reality higher than reported due to asymptomatic cases, people not testing etc, but I wonder how much that is offset by false positive RATs?

How does that work now? Did she report the RAT or wanted to wait for PCR first?

If I got a positive RAT I wouldn't bother doing the PCR, and I doubt I'm alone there. So could be extra cases being reported.
 
Good news - RAT was a false positive!

I know there's a lot of reports that cases are in reality higher than reported due to asymptomatic cases, people not testing etc, but I wonder how much that is offset by false positive RATs?
Whoa! I thought they were something like 99.7% accurate for positive results!

Lots of false negatives from a variety of reasons like people not doing them correctly but it is supposed to be very hard to get a false positive
 
How does that work now? Did she report the RAT or wanted to wait for PCR first?

If I got a positive RAT I wouldn't bother doing the PCR, and I doubt I'm alone there. So could be extra cases being reported.

She did report the RAT. Positive RAT result will be overwritten by the negative PCR result in the WA Health systems.

And you're absolutely right, most people won't bother. Only reason she also went do get a PCR is she's a teacher and covid is wiping them out, so she wanted to be 100% certain. It was also a very faint line but I don't know if that matters.
 
Whoa! I thought they were something like 99.7% accurate for positive results!

Lots of false negatives from a variety of reasons like people not doing them correctly but it is supposed to be very hard to get a false positive

Isn't that figure for people with symptoms like coughs and shortness of breath? If you have no or slight symptoms RATs are a hazardous guess.

The doctors I've talked to have mentioned loads of situations of positive RATs and negative PCRs - basically, a RAT is a preliminary test with large inaccuracy ranges while PCRs are far more sensitive and accurate. The key reason why RATs are important is because they give quick results and can effectively confirm you have COVID if you are displaying all the symptoms - if you are coughing your lungs out and get a positive RAT, it's a safe assumption you have COVID.
 

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For those of you who have recovered from Covid, does WA Health contact you to confirm that you have tested negative? (assuming you reported your positive result in the first place)
I have recovered. You don't have to test again after the initial positive (mine was a RAT - my wife tested positive on PCR for work, so I didn't bother getting a PCR as it would be a waste). You isolate for 7 days from test date and you can end isolation if you don't have symptoms. No test required.

WA health doesn't do s**t in terms of contact. I recieved an automated text with a questionnaire to see if I had been to any high risk places (hospital, aged care etc). My wife had due to work, so she had a phone call asking about this only. I received nothing. That was the extent of the contact.

It is all an honesty system, which is fair enough, because most people will obey the rules. There is limited risk from people who don't, as COVID is everywhere anyway. We must be getting close to a point where a lot of restrictions won't be needed due to the numbers of people already exposed.
 
I have recovered. You don't have to test again after the initial positive (mine was a RAT - my wife tested positive on PCR for work, so I didn't bother getting a PCR as it would be a waste). You isolate for 7 days from test date and you can end isolation if you don't have symptoms. No test required.

WA health doesn't do s**t in terms of contact. I recieved an automated text with a questionnaire to see if I had been to any high risk places (hospital, aged care etc). My wife had due to work, so she had a phone call asking about this only. I received nothing. That was the extent of the contact.

It is all an honesty system, which is fair enough, because most people will obey the rules. There is limited risk from people who don't, as COVID is everywhere anyway. We must be getting close to a point where a lot of restrictions won't be needed due to the numbers of people already exposed.
I was wondering how the govt knows the number of active cases. They must just assume that at 7days an infected person is deemed recovered, then they minus the death toll and voila, active case number.
 
For those of you who have recovered from Covid, does WA Health contact you to confirm that you have tested negative? (assuming you reported your positive result in the first place)
My experience is a little different to Rowan18. The Health Dept certainly rang me the day after I tested +ve. I think there were around 3,500 who tested +ve the day I did so I thought that it was a mighty effort for them to be in touch the next day. I guess that the numbers are just to great now for that level of contact. As Rowan18 said after 7 days you are free to leave isolation provided that you have no symptoms but there was no contact from the Health Dept other than a text on my last day of isolation saying I was ok to leave isolation the next day (provided that I was free of symptoms). So, yeah, I guess that the Health Dept assume that after 7 days you are a recovery.

I was told not to do a test prior to leaving iso (as would be required if I was only close contact) as I would most likely still test +ve for the next month or so.
 
Case numbers aren't really that important, there is no doubt the real case numbers are far higher than official figures anyway - the numbers in hospital are what matters, and they seem to be steady.
 

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