COVID: Is this even possible?

April 24, 2020, We were tested for COVID

I was Positive, Feyma was Negative

How can that be? Feyma and I are husband and wife. We live in the same house. We sleep together. We don’t wear masks or other protection when together alone. How can I be positive while she is negative?

My cousin and some other relatives were discussing this on Facebook the other day and I saw it (they were specifically discussing our case). I thought about it and decided to write an article about how it could be possible for the two of us to have these different results.

I have three possible scenarios

1. One of us was immune.
2. Both of us actually had it, but Feyma was already recovered when tested.
3. Luck.

Before getting into each scenario and how that may have played out, let me give you some background.

February 2020

Starting in the first week of February, I got sick. I thought I had the flu, but it was a very bad flu. I was sick for the entire month of February. One day I even passed out in the bathroom. 

Funny thing was that every morning when I woke up, I thought that I was already well, I was not sick, felt fine. But, by late afternoon, I was sick again. Seemingly every day, in the afternoon I was sicker than I had been the day before.

Why didn’t I go to the doctor?

Well, honestly, I am not a big fan of going to the doctor. Also, having what I thought was the flu, there is really nothing a doctor can do about that, you just have to ride it out. Also, at that time, COVID was not known to be in the USA, and especially not in Indiana, where I live. So, I rode it out. Sometime in the final week of February, I was well again.

During this month, Feyma also got sick, but only a mild sickness, flu-like symptoms as well. She felt better in only a few days.

April 2020

In April, Tyson, the company that Feyma works for had a large outbreak of COVID at the local production facility. All employees were required to be tested for COVID at the plant. The results came back a few days later. Feyma was negative. Two of our sons who also work for Tyson both tested positive.

Consequently, on the same day that Feyma had her COVID test, I was scheduled to have a medical procedure done (outpatient). When I got to the medical office, they asked me some questions, and based on my answers they required me to be tested for COVID before the procedure could be done. So, I left their office and went to the COVID testing site in our County. My results came back the next day and I was positive.

How can that be?

The possible scenarios in my mind

1. Looking back to February

When I had my COVID test, I was told that if you have had COVID and already recovered it was possible to test positive for up to 90 days after your recovery. Well, if I did have COVID in February, that was only about 60 days earlier, and I may have still been testing positive for the virus in April, even if I no longer had it.

In February it is possible that Feyma did have a mild case of the virus, or that she did not have it at all. Either way, it would be possible for her to have tested negative. I was not told that you would test positive for 90 days post-virus, I was told that you might.

So, it is possible that one or both of us did have the virus in February, but I still tested positive in April. When I tested positive in April, I was completely asymptomatic. I did not feel sick at all.

2. It is possible that Feyma was immune to COVID

A couple of weeks ago, I was at my primary care physician’s office. We got talking about COVID, and the experience that Feyma was negative and I was positive. The doctor asked me:

Has Feyma ever had the BCG Immunization (for TB)?

I got thinking about it and realized that she had the BCG immunization in 1990 when she immigrated to the USA. That was required for immigrants. So, I told my doctor that yes, she had been immunized.

My doctor proceeded to tell me that some evidence is coming to light that people who have had the BCG vaccination are immune to COVID. It is still being studied, but the early study is making it seem likely that the immunization renders people immune to COVIDs. Who knows?

3. Luck

Of course, not every person that comes into contact with the virus gets it. There is not a 100% infection rate, not even close. So, it is possible that I really was positive in April, and Feyma was really negative in April. I consider that unlikely, but it is possible.

Who knows what the fact is? We will never know. But, these are the scenarios that I have thought of. Any of them are possibilities.