Information on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Testing

1. Curative Testing Kiosks

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2. Arlington County Mobile, Walk-Up Site

Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Current Location: 601 S, Carlin Springs Road, Arlington, VA 22204

Requirements: Patients must be 13 years and older. No cost to patients and do not require a medical referral or appointment, regardless of insurance or immigration status. Participants will be asked for insurance information, if available, so insurance providers can be billed, but no co-pay from participants will be required. While appointments are not required, visitors are encouraged to complete registration paperwork in advance to move more quickly through the line.

1. Arlington Free Clinic Walk-Up Collection Site

Arlington Mill Community Center
909 S Dinwiddie St.
Monday-Friday, 12 p.m.-5 p.m.
First Saturday of the month: 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Requirements: Location only for Arlington residents age 13 and older who are uninsured or under-insured. No appointment required, and there is no cost for testing. If you would like to make an appointment, call 703-912-0118 between 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday-Friday. Staff can take calls in English and Spanish. Individuals must bring proof of identity (U.S. government ID not required).

• No insurance required
• No doctor referral required or symptoms required
• No same-day results

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Stay home if you might have been exposed to COVID-19. Review CDC information on who needs to quarantine.

If you develop a fever, cough or other symptoms, call your healthcare provider for medical advice. Most people have mild illness and are able to recover at home.

If you are sick with COVID-19 or think you might have COVID-19, follow these steps to care for yourself and to help protect other people in your home and community.

When caring for a person with COVID-19 at home or in a non-healthcare setting, follow the CDC's advice to protect yourself and others.

• People with symptoms of COVID-19
• People who have had close contact with someone with COVID-19
• People who have taken part in activities that put them at higher risk for COVID-19 because they cannot physically distance as needed, such as travel, attending large social or mass gatherings, or being in crowded indoor settings
• People who have been asked or referred to get testing by their healthcare provider or the health department.

If you have symptoms, use Virginia’s COVIDCHECK to help make decisions about when to seek testing and medical care. Call 9-1-1 right away if you are having a medical emergency.

There are two main types of tests for COVID-19: viral tests (PCR or antigen) and antibody tests.

1. A viral test tells you if you have a current infection by looking for parts of the virus. Swabs that take samples from the nose or throat, or saliva, are used for these tests. Currently, there are two main viral tests used to detect COVID-19:
   1. Molecular tests (also called PCR tests) that look for the virus’s genetic material, and
   2. Antigen tests that look for a specific protein that is part of the virus. (Antigen tests can be easy to run and may cost less than molecular tests, but are not always as accurate as molecular tests.)
2. An antibody test tells you if you had a previous infection.

Virginia Department of Health's Updated Guidance on Testing for COVID-19

Testing capacity at commercial, private, and hospital laboratories performing SARS-CoV-2 testing continues to increase in Virginia. VDH recommendations for prioritizing testing are summarized in this online table. If testing in the private sector is not available, clinicians may request testing for patients at DCLS by contacting the Arlington County Health Department.

Anyone who is confirmed via lab testing to have COVID-19 is contacted by the County's Health Department.

• The health department conducts a "contact investigation" to identify additional people who came in close contact with individuals in order to decrease the spread of the illness. Those close contacts will be self-quarantined and actively monitored for fever and respiratory symptoms. If close contacts start experiencing symptoms, they will immediately be tested.
• The health department routinely conducts contact investigations for other communicable diseases like measles and tuberculosis–and now, COVID-19–to determine who is at high risk for exposure to stop the spread of the disease.

Virginia Department of Health: What to do if you have confirmed or suspected coronavirus disease (COVID-19)?

If you test negative for COVID-19, you probably were not infected at the time your specimen was collected. However, that does not mean you will not get sick. It is possible that you were very early in your infection at the time of your specimen collection and that you could test positive later, or you could be exposed later and then develop illness. In other words, a negative test result does not rule out getting sick later.

Continue to practice social distancing and the use of a mask along with other best practices, as to help protect yourself and others.