Do I have long COVID? Does it matter which variant? UC Davis doctor answers your questions

After a week of hanging out with family and friends for the holidays, you decide to get tested for COVID-19, out of an abundance of caution or because you have questionable symptoms.

What if the results come back positive? Here’s what you need to do next and what you should know:

Isolate yourself and wear a mask

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most people who contract COVID-19 have a mild illness and will generally recover at home without medical attention.

Make sure you isolate yourself from other people and stay separated from people in your home if you live with others. If you must be around people, wear a mask.

How long you’ll need to isolate

Those that tested positive need to stay isolated for 10 full days. “Day 0 is your first day of symptoms. Day 1 is the first full day after your symptoms developed,” according to the CDC.

“If you test positive for COVID-19 and never develop symptoms, day 0 is the day of your positive viral test (based on the date you were tested) and day 1 is the first full day after your positive test,” the CDC wrote on their website. “If you develop symptoms after testing positive, your 10-day isolation period must start over.”

Should I get tested again?

You don’t need to.

PCR and rapid antigen tests for COVID-19 are accurate and false positive tests are incredibly rare, said Dean Blumberg, professor and chief of pediatric infectious diseases at UC Davis Health.

“When people have discrepant test results, generally, that’s because they had a true positive and then the next sample, for whatever reason was negative,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean that the first one wasn’t accurate.”

Blumberg recommends accepting the positive test result and not retesting.

Contact tracing

According to the CDC, you can spread COVID beginning 48 hours before symptoms appear or a positive test. So once you know you are positive for the virus, you need to inform your close contacts and anyone who you’ve seen in the last two days.

Notify your doctor if you are immunocompromised

If you are at higher risk of serious illness and you tested positive, Blumberg recommends contacting your healthcare provider.

They may advise for therapy with monoclonal antibodies or antivrial Paxloviv. Both of these COVID-19 treatments can help decrease the risk of hospitalization and death, Blumberg said.

Is there a way to know if you have delta or omicron?

There are additional genetic tests that can be done to identify which variant of COVID-19 you have. Generally, public health laboratories are conducting this type of testing.

But Blumberg said he thinks it’s not important to know which variant infected you.

“The treatment or the follow up isn’t any different,” he said. “If you have it now, I would assume that you have omicron.”

The omicron variant of COVID-19 has become the dominant version of the coronavirus and accounted for 73% of new U.S. cases last week, according to the CDC.

When to seek professional medical help

Blumberg said the most serious symptom of COVID infections is pneumonia. If you have difficulty breathing or your lips are turning blue, seek immediate medical attention.

He said these individuals may require supplemental oxygen or other interventions.

Dehydration is another complication.

“People who have COVID or other infections may feel sick and not want to take in fluids, and they can get dehydrated,” Blumberg said. These individuals may need intravenous fluids, also known as IVs.

If you’re not urinating enough or your urine is too dark, you should get medical care, Blumberg said.

Should I test again after isolation?

Blumberg said for the vast majority of people, no additional testing is needed. Once your fever is complete and your clinical symptoms have improved within 10 days, you are no longer considered infectious, he said.

“The tests may be positive for weeks afterwards after infection,” he said. “But that doesn’t indicate that the person is infectious to others.”

Do I have long-haul COVID?

For some people, symptoms may linger and gradually resolve over time. Blumberg said while a fever will settle in 10 days, coughing and other respiratory symptoms can linger for weeks.

“Fatigue and fuzzy thinking, headaches – that can persist for quite some time,” he said, adding that for some people, it can last months.

According to a previous report from The Bee, if you have lingering COVID symptoms by the second or third month after your infection, then you’re likely experiencing long COVID.