What is COVID-19?

COVID-19 is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The virus, which can cause mild to severe respiratory illness, has spread globally, including the United States. The current information available to characterize the spectrum of clinical illness associated with COVID-19 suggests that symptoms include cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fever, chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat or new loss of taste or smell.

What are the known and potential risks and benefits of the test?

Potential risks include:

• Possible discomfort or other complications that can happen during sample collection.
• Possible incorrect test result (see below for more information)

Potential benefits include:

• The results, along with other information, can help your healthcare provider make informed recommendations about your care.
• The results of this test may help limit the spread of COVID-19 to your family and others in your community.

What does it mean if I have a positive test result?

If you have a positive test result, it is very likely that you have COVID-19. Therefore, it is also likely that you may be placed in isolation to avoid spreading the virus to others. There is a very small chance that this test can give a positive result that is wrong (a false positive result). Your healthcare provider will work with you to determine how best to care for you based on your test result(s) along with your medical history, and your symptoms.

What does it mean if I have a negative test result?

A negative test result means that proteins from the virus that causes COVID-19 were not found in your sample.

It is possible for this test to give a negative result that is incorrect (false negative) in some people with COVID- 19. This means that you could possibly still have COVID- 19 even though the test is negative. If your test result is negative, your healthcare provider will consider the test result together with all other aspects of your medical history (such as symptoms, possible exposures, and geographical location of places you have recently traveled) in deciding how to care for you. The amount of antigen in a sample may decrease the longer you have symptoms of infection. Specimens collected after you have had symptoms for more than seven days may be more likely to be negative compared to a molecular assay.

It is important that you work with your healthcare provider to help you understand the next steps you should take.

What are the differences between antigen tests and other COVID-19 tests?

There are different kinds of tests for COVID-19. Molecular tests (also known as PCR tests) detect genetic material from the virus. Antigen tests detect proteins from the virus. Antigen tests are very specific for the virus, but are not as sensitive as molecular tests. This means that a positive result is highly accurate, but a negative result does not rule out infection.

If your test result is negative, you should discuss with your healthcare provider whether an additional molecular test would help with your care, and when you should discontinue home isolation. If you will not have an additional test to determine if you are contagious, the CDC currently recommends that you should stay home until three things have happened:

• You have had no fever for at least 72 hours (that is three full days of no fever without the use of medicine that reduces fevers)
• and
• Other symptoms have improved (for example, when your cough or shortness of breath has improved)
• and
• At least 10 days have passed since your symptoms first appeared.

How can I receive my results in writing?

Written test results are available upon request. We can fax them, mail them, or have them at the pharmacy for pickup in our drive-thru by the patient if you test negative or by someone else if they test positive.

At this time, we are unable to send results via email due to certain HIPAA restrictions.