COVID-19 Testing and Care | Johns Hopkins Medicine

 Our Testing Locations

COVID-19 Testing and Care

What should I do if I think I have COVID-19?

Call 911 if you are experiencing life-threatening symptoms. Call your provider or pediatrician if you or your child feel sick and do NOT have life-threatening symptoms. Do NOT go to a health care facility for evaluation before calling. Be prepared to answer the following questions:

• Do you have a cough, fever or chills, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, muscle or body aches, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell, diarrhea, headache, new fatigue, nausea or vomiting, or congestion or runny nose?
• Have you had close contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus? (Close contact means having been within 6 feet of that person for an extended time, or being exposed to their cough or sneeze.)
• Have you been notified by a public health official that you have potentially been exposed to COVID-19?

How can I get tested for COVID-19?

If you think you may have COVID-19, please contact your primary care provider. You will need an order, as well as a scheduled appointment, to go to a Johns Hopkins testing facility.

Patients with a doctor’s referral who have symptoms: 

• If you have a MyChart account, you can schedule your appointment for a test online through MyChart. If you do not use MyChart, please contact your provider’s office to schedule your test.
• Your appointment information will include the designated testing facility as well as other important instructions, including how to reach the testing site when you arrive and items you will need to bring.

Our screening and testing process:

Effective April 24, asymptomatic patients will no longer require COVID-19 testing prior to hospital admission unless the patient:

•  Is being admitted to a shared (double occupancy) inpatient room
•  Is being admitted to a behavioral health unit 

Please note: For the time being, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center will continue to require pre-admission COVID-19 testing for most adult patients, due to its high percentage of semi-private rooms. Please consult with your care team for more information.

Inpatients in behavioral health units and shared rooms need to be tested at the time of admission and once again within three to five days following admission testing; no further testing is required unless they develop COVID-19 symptoms.

Surgeons and others performing procedures may still order COVID tests prior to the procedure if they feel it is in the best interests of their patients.

Symptomatic patients and patients with a recent exposure to COVID-19 still must be tested for COVID-19 prior to hospital admission. Indications for COVID-19 testing include: fever, chills, cough, sore throat, runny nose, headache, new or worsening shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, muscle aches, new or worsening fatigue, diarrhea, vomiting, loss of taste or smell, exacerbation of an underlying illness such as COPD or congestive heart failure, or exposure to someone with COVID-19 in the past 10 days.

COVID-19 Testing Locations

Testing requires an appointment. Please do not come to the hospital or testing facility without an appointment. To receive testing at a Johns Hopkins facility community collection site, your doctor will need to place an order for COVID-19 testing. We would like you to go to a Johns Hopkins testing facility (not the emergency department) for this nonemergency testing.

For the safety of others, please come alone if possible. Please bring a government-issued photo ID.

Nasal Swab Self-Collection Instructions

If you have been ordered a COVID-19 test using our self-collection process, please review these instructions to prepare for your appointment.

Receiving COVID-19 Test Results

COVID-19 test results are available in MyChart within 1 hour of the results being finalized from the lab. If you don’t yet have a MyChart account, please click “Sign Up Now” on the MyChart page.