COVID-19 Testing

Summary

COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) is a disease caused by a virus called SARS-CoV-2. There are two types of tests for this virus:

• A viral test tells you if you have a current infection. Viral tests can either be rapid tests or laboratory tests:
  • Rapid tests can be done in minutes. They are often antigen tests, which look for specific proteins from the virus. Some rapid tests are self-tests which you can do at home.
  • Laboratory tests can take days to complete and include PCR tests.
• An antibody (serology) test might tell you if you had a past infection.

If you need a COVID-19 test, you can:

• Buy a self-test online or at a store. Make sure that the test you buy has been authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). If you have health insurance from your employer or through the Health Insurance Marketplace , your insurance company will pay you back for eight at-home tests each month. Check with your insurance company for details.
• Check your state or local health department's website for information on testing in your area.
• Contact your health care provider.
• Order free self-tests from COVID.gov for your household, if you live in the U.S. The tests are from the U.S. government.

Even if your COVID-19 viral test is negative (the test did not detect the virus), you should still take steps to protect yourself and others.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Start Here

• COVID-19 Test Basics (Food and Drug Administration) Also in Spanish
• COVID-19 Testing: What You Need to Know (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish

Diagnosis and Tests

• Antibody Serology Tests (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• At-Home Medical Tests (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Community-Based Testing Sites for COVID-19 (Department of Health and Human Services)
• Directory of Local Health Departments (National Association of County and City Health Officials)
• PCR Tests (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Rapid Tests (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Related Issues

• Beware of Fraudulent Coronavirus Tests, Vaccines, and Treatments (Food and Drug Administration) Also in Spanish
• How Test to Treat Works for Individuals and Families (Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response)
• Pulse Oximetry (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Specifics

• At-Home OTC COVID-19 Diagnostic Tests (Food and Drug Administration) Also in Spanish
• COVID Risk Quiz: When To Test (Consortia for Improving Medicine with Innovation & Technology)
• COVID-19 Antibody Testing (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• How Do COVID-19 Antibody Tests Differ from Diagnostic Tests? (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• How Do I Know if the Expiration Date of My At-Home COVID-19 Test Has Been Extended? (Food and Drug Administration) Also in Spanish
• Nasal Swab (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Self-Testing At Home or Anywhere (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish

Statistics and Research

• Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) (National Institutes of Health)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: COVID-19 Antibody Test (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: COVID-19 Viral Test (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Sensitivity of rapid antigen tests for COVID-19 during the Omicron variant...
• Article: Potential of vibrational spectroscopy coupled with machine learning as a non-invasive...
• Article: Association of Psychosocial Factors on COVID-19 Testing among YWCA Service Recipients.
• COVID-19 Testing -- see more articles

Children

• Coronavirus (COVID-19): Getting Tested (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Coronavirus (COVID-19): Viral Testing (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Self-testing for COVID-19 (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish