[katieHaylor (OP)]

Carole says:

I was tested positive 2nd December after initially having severe sore throat like tonsilitis which started 30th November. However, we have been part of the Office of National Statistics Covid Survey since September and our last swab test was completed 21st December.

The ONS phoned me 6th January saying that myself and daughter were tested positive! This means I was still positive for more than 3 weeks - and still would like to know if I am negative now (my next ONS test will be in a few weeks time).

I was told by NHS 111 that my self isolation completed 10th December (my husband was positive 26th November- and we had all self isolated from 30th November). Could I have been a risk to the community? I am a carer for my 90 year old parents and luckily I keep distance/mask/wash hands, shopping etc.

Is the 10 day self isolation period enough, or could people be positive for far longer and still be shedding virus?

I sent my daughter back to school on 14th December not knowing she was still positive until at least 21st! I am sure the school would not have had her back if they had known she had done her self-isolation for 3 weeks but was still positive!

[set fair]

The PCR test measures viral RNA, not actual virus. This means that after recovery you can get a false poitive because of the RNA debris left in the blood stream which takes longer to clear than virus itself. So there are more false positives after the disease than there are for people who haven't been infected. Did you get a Ct value with your last positive test? The Ct value relates to how many times the sample had to undergo RNA amplification, if the Ct value was over 35, three weeks after your first positive test then  it was probably a false positive.

If you live near a university, you might find somebody willing to do a plaque assay which would be definitive.

On the other hand viruses can repeat.