Question about covid exposure
December 3, 2023 7:31 AM Subscribe
I was exposed to covid about 20 hours ago. Except for about five of those hours, I have been in close proximity to my spouse. Does it still make sense for us to separate or wear masks, to minimize me further exposing my spouse to covid, or is it too late to bother? That is, from the other direction, would my spouse already have gotten enough exposure to me that separation or masks wouldn’t make a difference?
In case it matters, we have both taken all vaccination opportunities, my spouse has some extra risk factors, the house has enough room for us to easily separate, I work from home, and my spouse commutes to an office job but has a private office. Also, I do plan to stay home and then test five days after exposure.
In case it matters, we have both taken all vaccination opportunities, my spouse has some extra risk factors, the house has enough room for us to easily separate, I work from home, and my spouse commutes to an office job but has a private office. Also, I do plan to stay home and then test five days after exposure.
Seconding mskyle. You will get basically all the benefits of risk reduction if you start now, the first few hours were very low risk.
posted by mark k at 7:51 AM on December 3, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by mark k at 7:51 AM on December 3, 2023 [7 favorites]
Yes, isolate from one another now. My partner and I are also both fully vaccinated and were recently exposed at the same time in roughly the same proximity, and we isolated once we realized and had different outcomes.
posted by teremala at 8:03 AM on December 3, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by teremala at 8:03 AM on December 3, 2023 [4 favorites]
Yes, worth it!
Anecdata: My husband and I have both gotten Covid, about a year apart. In both cases, we shared a bed until like an hour before one of us got a positive test. In both cases we isolated immediately from then forward, and in neither case did we spread it to each other.
posted by juliapangolin at 8:45 AM on December 3, 2023 [6 favorites]
Anecdata: My husband and I have both gotten Covid, about a year apart. In both cases, we shared a bed until like an hour before one of us got a positive test. In both cases we isolated immediately from then forward, and in neither case did we spread it to each other.
posted by juliapangolin at 8:45 AM on December 3, 2023 [6 favorites]
A couple of friends just went through this. She got covid. After the test, they masked up and isolated as best they could. She got over it, he didn't get it. (They're both fully vaccinated.)
posted by bryon at 9:23 AM on December 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by bryon at 9:23 AM on December 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Studies have found that the incubation period of COVID (the time from exposure to start of symptoms) is usually 1–4 days. Contagiousness peaks around the same day that symptoms start, but risk of transmission can be high up to 2 days before through 3 days after the onset of symptoms.
So you might become highly contagious starting around 2 days after exposure. Or it could be sooner.
(This has been changing constantly with the evolution of the virus, so these numbers may not be totally accurate for current variants.)
posted by mbrubeck at 9:56 AM on December 3, 2023 [4 favorites]
So you might become highly contagious starting around 2 days after exposure. Or it could be sooner.
(This has been changing constantly with the evolution of the virus, so these numbers may not be totally accurate for current variants.)
posted by mbrubeck at 9:56 AM on December 3, 2023 [4 favorites]
Best answer: If you were exposed 20 hours ago it would be very unlikely that you would be able to transmit the virus to anyone in that time. It takes time for an infection to take hold and start producing enough virus to spread it.
This is true not just for covid, but almost every virus (with the exception of a few like Influenza B and Norovirus, which are very quick).
posted by ssg at 10:58 AM on December 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
This is true not just for covid, but almost every virus (with the exception of a few like Influenza B and Norovirus, which are very quick).
posted by ssg at 10:58 AM on December 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
Another point in favour of isolating: I got covid after a conference in October; we hadn't isolated after I returned, but once I tested positive we immediately started doing so. She never caught it.
Was it annoying? Sure. Was it better than her getting covid? A+, would do again.
posted by vernondalhart at 11:23 AM on December 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
Was it annoying? Sure. Was it better than her getting covid? A+, would do again.
posted by vernondalhart at 11:23 AM on December 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
Definitely worth it—I highly recommend isolating.
I started displaying COVID symptoms about 30 minutes into a 4 hour car ride with my partner (we were headed home from a weekend away). Talk about close proximity. I tested negative that day, but started isolating from him that evening. The next morning I tested positive. He never got COVID but I was pretty sick and tested positive for 9 days. Both of us are fully vaccinated.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:53 AM on December 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
I started displaying COVID symptoms about 30 minutes into a 4 hour car ride with my partner (we were headed home from a weekend away). Talk about close proximity. I tested negative that day, but started isolating from him that evening. The next morning I tested positive. He never got COVID but I was pretty sick and tested positive for 9 days. Both of us are fully vaccinated.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:53 AM on December 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by mskyle at 7:41 AM on December 3, 2023 [42 favorites]