How do I know when I should get a COVID-19 test?

For mild symptoms, we are not currently recommending a COVID-19 test in most cases, due to the shortage of available tests in the Bay Area. Please call your doctor for advice if you have mild symptoms. If you have mild symptoms and a test is not ordered, please follow these Self-Isolation and Health Monitoring Instructions for people who have tested positive for COVID-19. Even though you may not have a confirmed positive test, you should follow the same guidelines.

Testing is recommended if:

• You have a high-risk condition and COVID-19 symptoms
• You have been in close contact (within 6 feet for 15 minutes or more over a 24 hour period) with someone with confirmed COVID-19. Follow CDC guidance for when to test if you have been exposed. 

When to seek care and COVID-19 testing at the Emergency Room or Urgent Care

• If you have moderate to severe COVID-19 symptoms, including difficulty breathing, a severe persistent cough, high fevers that do not respond to over-the-counter fever medicines, difficulty getting out of bed, confusion, or unable to work or function normally.
• If your doctor recommends it.

Our Emergency Departments and Urgent Care Centers are for people who are sick or injured and are not the place to get a COVID-19 test unless you are experiencing breathing problems or other moderate or severe symptoms. Please do not go to the Emergency Department or schedule an Urgent Care appointment solely for the purpose of getting a COVID-19 test.

Severe symptoms, call 911: If you are in need of emergency care, please call 911. 

Where can I go to get tested for COVID-19?

• If you feel that you have symptoms of COVID-19, please call your primary care doctor's office. Your doctor may order a COVID-19 test for you. In many cases, we are not currently recommending testing if you have mild symptoms, due to high demand and a shortage of available test appointments in the Bay Area. 
• If you have mild symptoms and a test is not ordered, you should follow these Self-Isolation and Health Monitoring Instructions for people who have tested positive for COVID-19. ​If you are a current John Muir Health patient and you have a MyChart account, you may also schedule a test appointment via MyChart.
  

Please note that we are following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state guidelines, and your doctor will determine whether a test is appropriate for you.  Rapid testing is not appropriate in many situations.  You may also choose to be tested in-person at a local community testing site or a local pharmacy.

Due to high demand with COVID-19 cases increasing, currently we can accommodate COVID-19 testing only for the following people:

• People who have signs or symptoms of COVID-19 regardless of vaccination status or prior infection OR
• People who have had close contact (within 6 feet for a total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period) with someone with confirmed COVID-19t
  • The CDC has updated their guidance for exposed people and recommends that anyone who has been exposed, regardless of vaccination status, stay home and away from others for 5 days. Exposed people should be tested on day 5.

If you get tested because you have symptoms or were potentially exposed to the virus, you should stay away from others pending test results, wear a mask and follow the advice of your health care provider.

Please note: 

• Due to high demand, our test appointments are filling up quickly each day. If you are not able to get a test at John Muir Health, please seek a test in other locations.
  • For mild symptoms, we are not currently recommending getting a COVID-19 test in most cases, due to high demand and a shortage of available test appointments in the Bay Area.
  • If you have mild symptoms and a test is not ordered, you should follow these Self-Isolation and Health Monitoring Instructions for people who have tested positive for COVID-19.
  • In addition to testing people with moderate to severe symptoms, we are prioritizing testing people who have been exposed to someone with confirmed COVID-19 so that exposed people know when they can return to work or school.
• Our Emergency Departments and Urgent Care Centers are for people who are sick or injured and are not the place to get a COVID-19 test unless you are experiencing breathing problems or other moderate or severe symptoms.  Please do not go to the Emergency Department or schedule an Urgent Care appointment solely for the purpose of getting a COVID-19 test.

COVID-19 tests are offered at County and State locations, at local pharmacies, and at participating LabCorp locations. 

Pharmacies offering COVID-19 testing:

• CVS
• Rite-Aid Drive-Thru (only in Antioch at the East 18^th St. and Lone Tree Way location and Livermore at the Vasco Rd location) 
• Walgreens Drive-Thru Locations Only

Where to get a COVID-19 test in California.

Contra Costa County Public Health Department (925) 313-6000
Alameda County Public Health Department (510) 267-8000
Solano County Public Health Department (707) 784-8600

LabCorp COVID-19 testing for symptom-free and no known exposure.

If you have a surgery or other procedure scheduled at either our Concord or Walnut Creek hospital, your pre-procedure team will schedule a COVID-19 test for you.

What do I do if I am waiting for results of a COVID-19 test OR

I have tested positive for COVID-19 OR
I have had close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19?

Please download and review these Self Isolation and Health Monitoring instructions carefully. Please call your doctor if you have any questions.

Should I get tested for antibodies?

We understand that LabCorp, Quest and other labs offer this testing. It’s important to understand that this is a complex topic.

John Muir Health-affiliated doctors can order antibody tests for patients. Right now, in most cases, it’s not recommended for the following reasons:

• The tests that are currently available may have a false positive result. This means the test may show that a patient has antibodies, when in fact there are no antibodies.
• The accuracy of the tests currently available is not regulated and may vary wildly. This means that many tests may not be accurate.
• There is not enough known about what the presence of antibodies in a person means because COVID-19 is a new virus. Some of the things still not known about antibodies include:
  • Whether the presence of antibodies means that a person is immune to COVID-19.
  • Whether any immunity would be permanent or only for a shorter period of time.

It’s recommended even people who may have antibodies should continue to practice social distancing and wear face masks in public. If you have questions about getting tested for antibodies, please call your doctor to discuss your specific situation.

There is still a lot to be learned about immunity to COVID-19 and whether antibody testing may eventually prove more useful. Our infectious disease clinical leaders are paying close attention to the latest developments in antibody testing and we will continue to provide you with information as more is known.

Will I be billed for COVID-19 care?

Each health insurance plan has developed specific guidelines on how they will process and pay for your services for COVID-19 screening and treatment.  It is best to contact your health insurance plan with the phone number listed on your insurance card to determine what their latest coverage guidelines are for services specific to your benefit plan.  We continue to work with them to ensure we are billing your services for screening and treatment of COVID-19 as they request. See COVID-19 testing self-pay information. 

We will continue to provide care to ensure the health and safety of our patients and community. If you think you have been exposed to COVID‑19 and develop symptoms, such as fever, cough or difficulty breathing, please call your primary care doctor's office. If your primary care doctor is not available, please call one of our Urgent Care locations.

Treatments & Prevention

What treatments is John Muir Health using for COVID-19?

We are following the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) clinical management guidelines to treat hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients with COVID-19. These include a variety of medications, including monoclonal antibodies when appropriate. We are not using Ivermectin, which has not been proven to be effective in treating or preventing COVID-19.

Will John Muir Health doctors prescribe Ivermectin to prevent against COVID-19?

No. Ivermectin has not been proven to be effective in treating or preventing COVID-19, and can be toxic to humans when used inappropriately. For more information on Ivermectin, please see:

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) information on Ivermectin

CDC information on Ivermectin

Is there anything I can do to prevent getting COVID-19?

The best way to prevent a COVID-19 infection is to get vaccinated. The available COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective at preventing hospitalizations and death. Wearing a mask in indoor public spaces is also recommended. If you do become infected with COVID-19, immediately contact your doctor to discuss the possibility of being treated with monoclonal antibodies.

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Non-COVID-19 Related Care

How do I know if I need care right now?

Many people may be concerned about getting healthcare with COVID-19 still in our communities. We understand this worry, and we’re here to help reassure you.

It’s important to understand that even now, getting the care you need is vital for your health. We are open and here for you!

Whether you have chronic conditions that you were already getting care for or new symptoms that arise, it’s important that you get care now so that your condition doesn’t worsen. We’ve put many precautions in place to help keep you safe when you get care from us, including caring for many conditions virtually.

• To avoid bringing people together unnecessarily, we are able to care for many conditions virtually via video visits. This means you will have a scheduled appointment with a doctor via video, using your smartphone.
• For some conditions, we may need to see you in person in order to care for you properly. This allows us to examine you more closely in order to diagnose and treat you correctly.

How do I schedule a doctor or Urgent Care appointment?

For your safety and to minimize the potential of virus exposure, we are screening all patients before scheduling any appointments.

URGENT CARE

If you need to come in, we’ve taken precautions to help keep you and others safe.  As part of this, we are caring for patients with respiratory symptoms in different areas of our Urgent Care Centers than patients with all other symptoms.

When you call us or begin the online scheduling process, we’ll first ask you some questions about your symptoms. Next we’ll schedule an appointment for you in the appropriate Urgent Care area depending on your symptoms. 

PRIMARY CARE

To schedule a doctor’s appointment, please call your primary care doctor’s office. When you call, you will be screened to assess your condition so that we can provide you with the most appropriate care.

Can I do a video visit?

To avoid unnecessarily bringing people together, many John Muir Health doctors are doing most visits via video. We are also doing some video visits in our Urgent Care Centers. This means you will have a scheduled appointment with your doctor via video, using your smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer with a web camera and microphone. Your doctor will talk with you to understand how you’re doing, and develop a treatment plan for you, including prescribing medication as needed. Some patients may have an additional in person visit if the doctor determines during the video visit that the patient needs to be seen in person.

Where can I get imaging done?

As part of preparing to care for what is expected to be a large number of patients with COVID-19 in our community, we have temporarily made changes to our Outpatient Imaging hours and services available. This allows us to reallocate staff and resources to safely care for patients with COVID-19. Thank you for your understanding.

Temporary Imaging Hours and Services: