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, you will receive an auto-call or an auto-text to help schedule your appointment.
• 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.
• Due to high call volume because of the pandemic, it may be difficult to get through to schedule a test over the phone. We recommend you use other resources if you do not have access to MyChart, such as visiting coronavirus.maryland.gov to find other test locations.

Our screening and testing process:

For elective procedures and surgeries scheduled on or after May 9, 2022, preprocedural COVID-19 testing of asymptomatic patients undergoing an elective procedure or surgery will be required only for those with a prescheduled admission or a 23-hour observation following the procedure or surgery. Contact your surgeon or provider’s office if you should have questions or need assistance with scheduling testing related to your upcoming surgery or procedure.

We are continually reviewing our COVID-19 testing requirements, including the role of vaccination, and will make further adjustments as it is safe to do so.

Maryland and Washington D.C. residents without a doctor: We recommend you visit resources such as coronavirus.maryland.gov and coronavirus.dc.gov to find test locations.

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 a referral or an order for COVID-19 testing. Within 24–48 hours, you will receive a call from a coordinator, who will schedule an appointment for you. We would like you to go to a Johns Hopkins facility community collection site (not the emergency department) for this nonemergency testing.

For the safety of others, please come alone if possible. If others come with you, they should remain in the car while you go into the testing facility. Do not use public transportation or ride-share. 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.

Johns Hopkins Facility Community Collection Sites

See testing location maps in: Arabic | Chinese |Korean| Russian | Spanish

Find more COVID-19 testing locations on Maryland.gov.

Caring for You & Others

The best way to protect yourself and your loved ones from COVID-19 is to get vaccinated and boosted when eligible, follow testing guidelines, wear a mask, wash your hands and practice physical distancing.

Safety Guidelines Update

Face masks are required to enter any of our care facilities and expected to be worn at all times, even if you are fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19. We will provide a mask if needed.

Neck gaiters, bandanas, masks with exhalation valves, or clear shield-like face masks are not permitted to be worn as face coverings at Johns Hopkins Medicine facilities.