It can take up to 14 days to show symptoms after you’ve been exposed which is why they tell you to quarantine for that long. The average time it takes for a person who was exposed to show symptoms is five days. My partner started showing symptoms three days after being around the person who later tested positive. If you try and take a test, especially a rapid test, say 1-3 days after exposure, you have a much higher chance of a false negative. We were both tested seven days after our exposure and are now ten days post exposure. My partner was told as long as he was feeling better after reaching 14 days post exposure AND getting a negative test that he was fine to return to work.