INDIANAPOLIS — Ronald Smith beat COVID-19 long before his test results reflected how he was feeling.
"I was sick from the 10th to the 19th that is when the symptoms started to break," Smith said.
Smith told Facebook the virus is nothing to play about and used his experiences as an example.
"I finally went this past Friday and they were like, 'You're clear.'" Smith said. "It was a total of 44 or 45 days."
Smith said he took multiple COVID-19 tests long after the symptoms were gone and kept testing positive.
"This is not a joke," Smith said. "I would rather people stay home. You don't want it."
Experts said it is possible to test positive long after recovering from COVID-19.
"Patients can remain positive for weeks following the infection," Dr. Nicolas Barros, of IU Health, said. "In fact, there's a report that shows patients positive up to 80 days."
After recovery, the expert we spoke to said once a person is no longer showing symptoms of the virus, like a fever, the person is likely no longer contagious, even though the virus might still show up in a test.
The CDC suggests quarantining for 10 days after the symptoms are gone.
"Once I got it this once that was it, I'm not going anywhere anymore," Smith said.
"As for the reinfection, this is something we don't know," Barros said. "We are learning from this virus as we go."
According to the CDC, there are seven different strains of the coronavirus. Smith said he's afraid of catching the disease again. The expert we spoke to said despite multiple strains there's not enough research yet to say whether or not a person can be infected by the virus again.
Currently, IU Health is using two medications — Remdesivir and Dexamethasone — to help treat patients battling COVID-19.
One of the approved medications speeds up recovery by up to four days and the other is believed to help those facing prolonged symptoms.
