What to Do If You Are Sick
Call your doctor: If you think you have been exposed to COVID-19 and develop a fever and symptoms, such as cough or difficulty breathing, call your healthcare provider for medical advice. While supplies of these tests are increasing, it may still be difficult to find a place to get tested.
If your symptoms are mild and you cannot see a healthcare provider, separate yourself from other people in your home. This is known as home isolation.
- Stay away from others: As much as possible, you should stay in a specific “sick room” and away from other people in your home. Use a separate bathroom, if available.
- People with COVID-19 who have stayed home (home isolated) can stop home isolation under the following conditions:
- If you will not have a test to determine if you are still contagious, you can leave home after these 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 medicine that reduces fevers) AND
- other symptoms have improved (for example, when your cough or shortness of breath have improved) AND
- at least 7 days have passed since your symptoms first appeared.
- If you will not have a test to determine if you are still contagious, you can leave home after these three things have happened:
Testing for COVID-19
Call your doctor: If you think you have been exposed to COVID-19 and develop a fever and symptoms, such as cough or difficulty breathing, call your healthcare provider for medical advice. While supplies of these tests are increasing, it may still be difficult to find a place to get tested.
MORE: CDC’s information on Testing for COVID-19
Health care providers are using their medical judgement to order tests for COVID-19:
- Your doctor will review your symptoms to make a medical decision on whether to test you. For example, your health care provider will consider your symptoms, how long you’ve been sick, and your potential for exposure, among other factors.
- It is important you call your doctor before going to the office and follow their instructions. They will need to put infection control precautions in place prior to your visit.
- Your doctor will collect nose and throat swab specimens, and these specimens will be shipped to a laboratory for testing.
The Arlington County Public Health Department, along with other public health agencies in the region, is not testing for COVID-19. You must contact your doctor to be evaluated.
Virginia Hospital Center’s Sample Collection Site
On Wednesday, March 18, 2020, the Virginia Hospital Center (VHC), in partnership with Arlington County, opened a temporary drive-through COVID-19 sample collection site at 1429 N. Quincy Street.
- Samples are being collected from Arlington residents, Arlington County Government employees and Arlington Public Schools employees, and patients of VHC Medical Staff.
- This site is only for sample collection from patients who are experiencing symptoms (fevers, chills, cough, or shortness of breath) who have received a written order for COVID-19 testing from a licensed healthcare provider.
- Physicians with symptomatic patients can send orders to the Virginia Hospital Center outpatient lab electronically in EPIC or via fax to 703.558.2448.
- Once they have received a physician’s order, patients should call the VHC COVID-19 Scheduling Line at 703-558-5766 between the hours of 8:30 am and 3:00 pm. Patients must schedule an appointment before visiting the collection site.
- The sample collection center is open on weekdays from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm.
- The VHC collection site is designed with safety protocols specifically for individuals who are able to remain inside their own vehicle to reduce exposure. At this time, please do not visit the site on foot or using an alternate form of transportation (bike, scooter, etc.).
Arlington County’s COVID-10 Hotline: 703-228-7999
Inova Urgent Care Respiratory Illness Clinics
Inova Urgent Care – North Arlington, Dulles South and Tysons are staffing respiratory clinics to evaluate patients with respiratory illnesses. These clinics are open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
What to Do After Testing
Individuals who visit the VHC collection site are encouraged to follow the instructions of their health care provider and self-quarantine while they await their results. Test results will be available to the patient within five to seven business days.
If you test positive for COVID-19, see CDC’s guidance: If You Are Sick or Caring for Someone.
Anyone who is confirmed via lab testing with COVID-19 is investigated and monitored 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.