the hospital on releasing him said he we clear of the virus and did not have the virus anymore
A note on this - it's entirely possible to be clear of the virus and still test positive. Quite a high percentage of patients will test positive for weeks after having had the virus. There's even a few cases that hit the news during the earlier days of the pandemic, such as the woman who couldn't visit or touch her newborn for ~2 months after recovery because she was still testing positive.
After numerous studies, it's accepted that the lungs continue to shed dead cells containing tiny amounts of the viral RNA which are detected by PCR tests even after the virus has broken down and long after the patient is better and no longer infectious. I'm not sure about the flow tests other than to say I still showed covid positive after 14days using a rapid flow test. All my other tests after that were PCR and it took me 5-6 weeks to get a negative result. A few other people I know personally have taken between 4-6 weeks to get a negative result despite being well for weeks.
NHS guidelines are patients are infectious before symptoms appear during incubation period and for 10 (it used to be 14) days after symptoms first started as long as they have no new symptoms. CDC categorically states that you are no longer infectious 10 days after symptoms first appeared as long as you don't still have a fever or worsening symptoms.
>> especially middle aged and older men,
Ive heard that a few times, dating back to last summer. I've also heard nurses gossip about smokers being less likely to catch it, or at least experiencing lesser symptoms. Even if that were true - and googling it there is some educational/medical hypotheses why - it's hardly the sort of thing the NHS would promote.
