Issues in COVID-19 research and statistical analyses (Part XVVXIV)
July 5, 2022 In a recent article in NPR’s public health page, “Still testing positive after day 10? How to decide when to end your COVID isolation”, Will Stone discusses a big dilemma that many people face which is how long to isolate after they had COVID-19 infection. This problem then becomes more difficult if one continues to test positive on a rapid antigen test even after the isolation period. As the author points out, the “basic ground rules” set in place by the CDC have not changed even after the Omicron variant came onto the scene. The CDC had said that a person can stop isolating after 5 days as long he or she is free of fever for 24 hours and are also starting to get better. Then the loose guidance says they should wear a mask around others for another 5 days. However, Stone notes that researchers who looked into this matter say the rules are not enough and that people should wait until they test negative on a rapid test before going out into the public. However, researchers also point out that there is no perfect test to tell if you are still contagious or not. The article goes on to quote several pre-print papers, sometimes just referring to them as “studies” and other times referring to them as “preprints”, most of which just present percentages. However in quoting the CDC, who themselves showed about half of people testing positive on antigen tests between 5 to 9 days after symptom onset or diagnosis. In a preliminary study which has more detail than the other preprints conducted by scientists from Harvard and MIT, they found 25% of symptomatic people with COVID-19 had virus that could be cultured