I can leave Covid isolation, but my RAT is still positive

It’s been eight days since I tested positive to Covid-19 and the rules say I’m free to leave isolation, even though my RAT is still positive.

Like so many others in Australia, I rounded off my Christmas holidays with Covid-19.

While before Christmas I isolated like my life depended on it, after I’d finally had time with my family I made the conscious decision to still be sensible and avoid crowds where possible, but to allow a little more fun into my life.

On New Year's Day, my boyfriend came home complaining of feeling “really weird”. At first I brushed it off as a hangover, but after feeling that his body clearly had a high temperature even though his nose and feet were freezing, he took a RAT test and that positive line turned up almost immediately.

We went straight to a drive-through PCR testing clinic (which was still the rule at the time), where I wasn’t allowed to be tested (despite being the closest possible contact) because I wasn’t showing symptoms yet. A day later my RAT was positive and a further three days after that I was finally able to get a PCR test — thanks to long lines and clinic closures, but that’s a whole other article.

PCR centres near me were closing earlier despite long lines, making it harder to get a test – especially when you're feeling sick.

It’s now been eight days since my positive RAT test — a whole extra day than the latest rules in NSW say I would be allowed to leave my home with no further testing needed.

The thing is, I took it upon myself to do another RAT this morning before I re-entered the world and it showed up a strong positive in under a minute. This wasn’t even a wait-30-minutes-and-maybe-that’s-kind-of-a-red-line type of deal. This was almost immediate and very obvious.

So is seven days with no further testing really a system that will help stop the spread in any way?

Currently, the NSW Health website says: “You must self-isolate for 7 days from the day you tested positive for COVID-19 by PCR. You can only leave self-isolation after 7 days if you do not have a sore throat, runny nose, cough or shortness of breath. If you tested positive by Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) it is strongly recommended that you also follow this advice”.

While I had pretty strong flu-like symptoms during my Covid-stint, the worst of it was over within three days.

I’m now left with a cough, yes, but I have asthma and therefore nearly always have a cough. Mostly, I’m just really tired and I’m still dealing with that brain fog I’ve heard others talking about — can confirm it’s very real.

If I wasn’t lucky enough to have a supply of RAT tests, by all accounts I could assume I was good to go.

Yes, I could have tried standing in line to get my PCR earlier, but it felt irresponsible when I knew I could infect others. Picture Mike Batterham

My boyfriend actually had worse symptoms than me, but is now fully recovered and returned a negative RAT test after eight days (yes, I’m jealous). I actually got the self-RAT test idea from a close friend who contracted Covid a few weeks before I did, and took it upon himself to test until he was negative, despite having no more symptoms. All up, he was in isolation for nine days.

If we were talking PCR tests here, I’d be less sceptical, as we know they can detect a much smaller viral load than RAT tests can.

But we’re told RAT tests only give positive results when the patient has a high viral load — a time when patients are considered to be infectious — and generally lasts seven to 10 days (the original amount of time positive cases were expected to isolate).

So is the current NSW Covid plan effective? With case number continually on the rise, it seems unlikely.