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:

• Contact your health care provider.
• Check your state or local health department's website for information on testing in your area.
• 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).
• Order free self-tests from COVIDtests.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)
• Coronavirus Self-Checker (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
• 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
• 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
• Nasal Swab (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Self-Testing At Home or Anywhere (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
• Test for Current COVID-19 Infection (Viral Test) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
• Test for Past COVID-19 Infection (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: Ranking Methodology for Evaluating Region-Wise COVID-19 Testing Performance in India.
• Article: Zimbabwe's emergency response to COVID-19: Enhancing access and accelerating COVID-19 testing...
• Article: Implementation of COVID-19 Laboratory Testing Certification Program (CoLTeP) in African Region.
• 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