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My symptoms started on May 7. I tested positive for covid with an antigen test on May 8. My question is one i cannot seem to find the answer to. When do covid19 antigen disappear?
The antigen test is a good measure of whether a person is still shedding the virus. There is some evidence for the Omicron sublineage viruses to have a more prolonged shedding time. The shedding time is dependent on the person’s health, vaccination status, and other unmeasured or unknown things. For some people, shedding may stop after 5 days. But for other people, shedding may persist for >2 weeks. Therefore, you may become antigen negative as early as 5 days but in many instances it may take nearly 2 weeks, and in some rarer instances it will be longer than 2 weeks. This is why you should remain masked especially after a recent infection with Covid.
