In the days after a potential COVID-19 exposure, I monitor my health like a hawk. Is that a tickle in my throat? Am I sneezing more than usual? Am I normal tired—or bad tired?

It’s always hard to know when I can stop obsessing about every possible sign that I’ve been infected, so I consulted a few experts. They told me that, compared to how it behaved early in the pandemic, the SARS-CoV-2 virus now tends to act faster on the body, both because the virus itself has evolved and because most people’s immune systems have been primed by previous exposures. On average, people who get sick now exhibit symptoms about three days after coming into contact with the virus.

But “average” is the key word. Some people might experience symptoms in two days, others in five or six. So passing the three-day threshold without signs of COVID-19 isn’t an all-clear—but it is a sign that you can relax just a bit.

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