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Tuesday, Jun 30, 2020

Are people with lingering COVID-19 symptoms sometimes testing negative?

Mikayla Campbell, Gigafact Foundry
yes

Despite still showing symptoms of COVID-19 months after the first onset, some patients may show negative results from diagnostic tests for the presence of the coronavirus causing the disease.

These patients have reported recurring waves of symptoms, and doctors and researchers have yet to establish any common pattern of test results. As the viral load fluctuates, doctors are not sure if patients are falsely testing negative or if the test is picking up dead virus particles. It's uncertain how long patients with lingering symptoms remain contagious.

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