
Separate yourself from others in your home, especially people who are at higher risk of serious illness. Do not use public transportation, ride shares, or taxis. Do not go to work, school, or public areas. Stay home except to seek medical care. If you’ve been diagnosed with COVID-19 recently and are at high risk for severe disease because you are unvaccinated or immunocompromised, talk to your doctor about treatment or call 1-87 (English) or 1-87 (Spanish). Talk to your doctor to see if there is a treatment available for you. These treatments will be limited to high-risk people first – those who are unvaccinated or immunocompromised patients who are at high risk for severe disease, hospitalization or death. Treatment is available, but even with newly authorized treatments, there is very limited availability. If your test comes back positive, you should stay away from others and follow current CDC isolation guidelines for people with COVID-19. What if my test is negative? What if my test is positive? If you were tested for COVID-19 but have no symptoms and no known or suspected exposure to someone with COVID- 19 (for example, as part of a workplace screening program), you do not need to stay home while waiting for your results unless you are told to do so by your employer or by a public health official.
In addition, if you were tested because you have COVID-19 symptoms, everyone in your household should stay at home as much as possible until your results are known. If you have any COVID-19 symptoms, were tested because you were exposed to someone with COVID-19, or you suspect you may have been exposed to COVID-19, you should stay home and, as much as possible, avoid others in your household. What do I do while I wait for my test results? Diarrhea (loose stools 3 or more times a day).Shortness of breath, difficulty breathing.Fever, chills, or repeated shaking/shivering.The information below will help you to determine what you should do while you are waiting for your test results, and what to do after your test results are available. It may be because you have COVID-19 symptoms, were a close contact of someone with COVID-19, are in a job or a population that may be at higher risk for exposure and suspect you may have been exposed to COVID-19 or are in a job or a population for which routine or repeat testing is recommended or required. There are a number of reasons why you may be tested for COVID-19. An antibody test tells someone if they had the virus before. A viral test tells someone if they currently have COVID-19. Two kinds of tests are available for COVID-19: viral tests and antibody tests. If you are experiencing severe, life threating symptoms (for example, severe difficulty breathing, altered thinking, blue lips), seek immediate medical care or call 9-1-1.
Most people who get COVID-19 recover without needing medical care.
People who have attended protests, rallies, or other mass gatherings could have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 or could have exposed others. People who are at higher risk of severe illness. Health care workers or first responders. Frontline and essential workers (grocery store clerks, gas station attendants, child care workers, construction sites, processing plants, etc.). This fact sheet provides best practices for community testing in historically marginalized populations. People from historically marginalized populations who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. People who live in or have regular contact with high-risk settings (e.g., long-term care facility, homeless shelter, correctional facility, migrant farmworker camp). People in these groups should get tested if they believe they may have been exposed to COVID-19, whether or not they have symptoms. Groups of some of the populations with higher risk of exposure or a higher risk of severe disease if they become infected. Close contacts of known positive cases, regardless of symptoms.
Anyone with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19.
NCDHHS released updated guidance for doctors and clinicians on who should be tested for COVID-19. North Carolina is focused on rapidly increasing testing of people who may not currently have symptoms, but may have been exposed to COVID-19.