Can I have new COVID and test negative?

 Experienced this scenario: someone in your household contracts COVID-19. Even though you had considerable exposure to the virus, you repeatedly test negative. After close contact with someone who has COVID-19, why did you never get it.

Troubles with testing

According to Matthew Carr, MD, board-certified pathologist and medical director of Lab Services at Holland Hospital, there are several reasons a person can test negative after exposure to COVID-19. Someone may not use an at-home rapid test correctly by not inserting the swab far enough in the nasal cavity or circulating it enough.

Testing too early can also lead to a false negative because there may not be enough of the virus in one’s body to test positive. Dr. Carr recommends testing five or six days after exposure so the virus has built up enough for detection.

It is also possible that a person may be infected and even be symptomatic, but they might test negative simply because the virus has predominantly infected their throat or lungs rather than their nasal cavity.

Antibodies and other viruses

Another reason an exposed person may test negative is that vaccination or prior infection has created antibodies. In these cases, when someone is exposed to the virus, those antibodies are activated and rapidly clear the virus before they become infected or symptomatic.

Keep in mind that if a person tests negative for COVID-19 but still exhibits symptoms, they may have another virus like the flu or a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which a COVID-19 test would not pick up. That is why symptomatic patients at Holland Hospital receive a combination test that tests for multiple respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19.