As a long time lurker I have appreciated all the knowledge shared on this board, unfortunately it looks like my wife has been exposed.
Backstory: My wife went to dinner with her dad Tuesday for his birthday, today he tested positive so my wife will be getting tested tomorrow and probably Sunday if tomorrow's test is negative. That said, she developed a rash out of nowhere early last week (no other symptoms were present) and saw him last Thursday (a week ago) and after some googling it seems that a rash could be a symptom of COVID. My question is: Is a rash a COVID symptom and is it possible her dad's infection was actually passed from her rather than to her. Just curious if this should effect how long she and I quarantine for?

It would be highly unlikely for someone to develop symptoms in under 48 hours from exposure. And even less likely to test positive in that period of time. It's certainly possible that a rash is a COVID symptom, but it is less common, depending on the type of rash.

Given the recent surge, it's not impossible for both your wife and her dad to have gotten infected from different sources. And both being positive and infectious at dinner.

Without knowing what type of rash your wife has, I'd say it'd be best for your wife to hold off on getting tested tomorrow (in the absence of other symptoms). Assuming your wife got it from her dad, I'd wait till she develops symptoms or 7 days after her exposure. Quarantine in the mean time.

Rash as a sole symptom isn't very common, but check out these images
https://www.firstderm.com/wp-content/uploads/Covid-19-related-SKIN-DISEASES-by-First-Derm.pdf

My mom spent 2+ hours visiting a friend with her daughter inside her house (daughter was infectious and didn't know it until 2 days later). Neither 80 year old women got the virus. And it's been 19 days since exposure..

Thanks for the quick response, her rash did look like MORBILLIFORM ERUPTION and she had that as of 12/1. She works in mental health and wants to be able to give her clients as up to date information as possible. All appointments are canceled through Monday but given the elevated stress levels she is already seeing she would like to be able to see clients as soon as feasible.

Peace of mind, especially for someone in healthcare, is always good. Just be sure any test result is taken in context. A negative test today doesn't exclude COVID. Even at day 7 post exposure there's still a 20% risk of a negative test (or higher.).

If she had the rash since 12/1, and that rash was from COVID, tomorrow would be the last potential day she could be infectious to others.

I have a nurse coworker who had a rash as her only symptom. It's just a weird disease.

I had ear congestion. That's not really a symptom, either. But I also had mild nasal congestion, and my ears are really sensitive (sometimes flying messes them up for days).

I'm not a doctor, but I think the thing to remember is that our bodies can react in all sorts of ways when fighting off an infection. I had a tick virus summer before last, and in addition to the "common" symptoms, I had a couple that were less common.

And anytime my immune system is hijacked or compromised, I get a fever blister on my lip or in my nose.

If I understand the timeline correctly:
1) wife notices rash on 12/1
2) wife sees dad on 12/3 and on 12/8
3) dad tests positive on 12/10

If your wife gets a test today, she probably should get tested again, as you noted. If dad passed it to her, there is no way to know if that happened last Thursday or Tuesday.

If she tests positive, she needs to talk to the doctor (if she is able to see one) about what day to start counting from. I doubt they will count the day she noticed the rash as day 1, since that's not really a widely accepted symptom.

The doctor I saw said they use fever and loss of taste/smell as indicative symptoms.

So, if she has no other symptoms besides the rash, her day 0 would be the day she tests positive (or the day the sample was collected, if it's not a rapid test) and she would isolate for 10 additional days.