If you are experiencing symptoms that could be attributed to COVID-19, which might
be any of the following:
- Nasal congestion or runny nose
- Sore throat
- Fever or Chills
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Muscle or body aches
- New loss of taste or smell
- Fatigue
- Headache
- Nausea, vomiting or diarrhea
Call Health Services at 828-227-7640 to discuss your symptoms and testing needs with
the COVID-19 Triage Nurse.
If you have had a close contact with someone that has tested positive for COVID-19,
defined as:
- You were within 6 feet of an infected person for more than 15 minutes
- You Provided care at home to someone who is sick with COVID-19
- You had direct physical contact with the person (hugged or kissed them)
- You shared eating or drinking utensils
- That person sneezed, coughed, or somehow got respiratory droplets on you
Call Health Services at 828-227-7640 to discuss your potential exposure and the most
current CDC directions regarding testing after an exposure.
If you are asymptomatic, but would like to have a screening test to ensure you do
not have COVID-19:
Free home tests are available for pick up at the Health Services Bird Building at
the check-in desk on the lower level.
If you have had a positive home test, but are concerned you need to verify your result:
Call Health Services at (828)227-7640 to discuss your case with a triage nurse; a
lab based PCR test may be offered if confirmation is indicated
Rapid Antigen VS PCR testing:
Two types of testing are used to diagnosis active COVID-19 infections. Rapid, point-of-care
testing allows for quick identification of positive cases. Negative rapid tests may
need to be confirmed by a lab based PCR test for someone experiencing symptoms of
COVID-19. A PCR test looks for the virus’s genetic material, while a rapid antigen
test look for specific proteins on the surface of the virus.