2023-12-23 17:30:32
The COVID-19 pandemic has raised many questions among the world’s population. One of the most pressing questions is when a person is most contagious when they have the disease. Here we look at information from infectious disease experts to understand when you are most likely to spread COVID-19 to others.
When is COVID-19 most contagious?
The time when you are most likely to spread COVID-19 to other people, that is, the virus’s peak infectiousness, varies from person to person. The crucial factor is the onset of symptoms. This is when you are most contagious.
Once you start sneezing, you become contagious. You emit the virus through your nose into the environment and pass it on to people in close contact with you.
Regarding new variants such as Omicron HV.1, there is not yet enough data to know their peak infectivity. Researchers must therefore rely on the variants that we already know about. The peak infectivity of the XBB 1.5 variant, a more transmissible strain capable of evading immunity, is around the fourth day. The good news is that infectivity appears to decrease over time. Most of us will no longer be contagious after the tenth day. Once you start sneezing, you become contagious.
Can you be contagious if you don’t have symptoms?
Once your symptoms improve, the chances of infecting someone else are low, but not impossible. Even people who are asymptomatic, that is, without symptoms, can spread the virus. This is why you should continue to wear a mask for five more days after you start to feel better. This measure reduces the risk of transmission and protects high-risk people with whom you may be in close contact.
Are you still contagious after a negative test?
A negative COVID test after infection means you are “probably non-contagious at this point.” If you get a negative result with a rapid at-home COVID test, you can retest within 48 hours to be sure it is truly negative. You will need two consecutive negative rapid tests if you want to remove your mask and end isolation early.
Is COVID-19 less contagious than at the start of the pandemic?
The variants we have now are more or less contagious. For example, Omicron strains found to be more transmissible than Delta variant strains. However, when introducing a new virus into a population that has not yet been exposed, the results would be similar to the first outbreak of the pandemic.
However, most people have some immunity to the virus from the vaccine or previous infection. The chances of developing an infection are therefore lower. If a person becomes ill, the illness is likely to be milder and last less time.
How to protect yourself from new variants of COVID-19?
Vaccination remains the most effective way to protect against COVID-19 and the complications that can result from the disease. Updated vaccines help your immune system better recognize and fight new strains of the virus.
Compared to the original vaccines that were rolled out, the current vaccines are much more updated and match much better with what is currently circulating. Although vaccines do not guarantee that you will not get COVID-19, you are much less likely to develop severe illness and have a poor outcome.
We are entering the month where hospitalizations are increasing. But doctors and hospitals have the tools to minimize the consequences of COVID-19 both acutely and with long COVID, thanks to the combination of these entities: vaccine, early detection and antivirals.
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François Lehn has been a science/health journalist for 15 years. Specializing in new health approaches and complementary care, he notably had the opportunity to collaborate for two years with Professor David Servan-Schreiber. Passionate about integrative medicine and the complementarity of different preventive and therapeutic health approaches, he tirelessly seeks the best information, health practitioners, doctors or researchers in order to provide the most reliable and useful knowledge for everyone’s health.
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