Information on COVID-19 testing and criteria
By Contributor
To support testing of people who meet specific criteria, new testing guidelines from the BCCDC limit testing to people with symptoms who are:
- Hospitalized or are likely to be hospitalized
- Health-care workers
- Residents of long term care facilities
- Part of an investigation of a cluster or outbreak
Testing will occur by appointment only for people who have been referred by their primary care provider or an 8-1-1 nurse.
Patients without symptoms, or those with mild symptoms who can be managed at home, should not be tested. The exception is health-care workers with COVID-19 infection who have recovered and require a negative test prior to returning to work.
Check out the symptom self-assessment tool for help determining if you might need further assessment or testing for COVID-19..
This self-assessment tool, developed with the BC Ministry of Health, will help determine whether you may need further assessment or testing for COVID-19. You can complete this assessment for yourself, or on behalf of someone else, if they are unable to.
Who should be tested for COVID-19?
People with respiratory symptoms who are:
- Hospitalized, or likely to be hospitalized
- Health Care Workers
- Residents of long term care facilities
- Part of an investigation of a cluster or outbreak
Who does not need to be tested for COVID-19?
- People without symptoms
- Patients with mild respiratory symptoms who can be managed at home, including returning travellers with an onset of illness within 14 days of return to Canada
The BC Ministry of Health strongly urges anyone who has symptoms – including a fever, cough, sneezing, sore throat, or difficulty breathing – to self-isolate for 14 days. To protect yourself while out in public, wash your hands frequently and maintain a distance of about 2 metres from others. For more information on COVID-19, refer to HealthLink BC’s COVID-19 website.
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