9.3.2020
COVID-19 Testing in Pamlico County
Who should get tested?
- Anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 such as fever, cough and shortness of breath. If you are not certain if symptoms you are having warrant a test, discuss this with your health care provider or self-check your symptoms on a symptom checker - https://ncdhhs-covid19-dtra.powerappsportals.us/en-US/ - to help determine if you should be tested.
- If you have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. Close contact is defined as having been within 6 feet of an infected individual for at least 15 minutes.
- If you have attended any type of large gathering. This is especially true if indoors or most of the attendees were not wearing masks nor practicing physical distancing.
- If you work in an environment, particularly indoors, where you come in contact with numerous people, especially if mask-wearing and physical distancing are not practiced by the majority. This includes grocery store or other retail clerks, restaurant staff who interact with the patrons, plant workers, child care workers, health care workers, employees in congregate living environments, first responders and similar jobs.
- If you live in a high-risk setting, which includes migrant farmworker camps, long term care facilities, homeless shelters and correctional facilities.
- If you think you may have been exposed and you fall into one of the high-risk categories including age 65 or greater, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, lung disease, kidney disease or an immunocompromised state.
Other situations in which you might consider testing:
- If you are not regularly following the recommended guidelines of wearing a mask, physically distancing and hand washing and/or you frequently associate with others who are not following guidelines.
- If there are multiple people in your household, especially if everyone is involved with a variety of different activities outside the home. This becomes of greater importance if a member of the household is at high risk for serious infection.
- If you plan to visit with family or friends who may be at high risk for severe complications should they become infected. Before your visit you might want to make sure you have a negative test result. In this situation, you should self-isolate after your test has been obtained to decrease the risk of becoming infected after testing. You do need to be aware that a negative result is not a guarantee that you are not infected by the time of your arrival. An alternative solution in this situation is to self-quarantine for two weeks before your visit.
What test do I need?
You need to be tested with a diagnostic test which tells you if you have the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the illness COVID-19. The gold standard test is the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test. This is a molecular test, which detects the genetic material, or RNA, in the virus. The specimen to be tested is generally obtained with a swab from the nose or throat or could be a saliva sample.
There is another diagnostic test, known as an antigen test. These tests detect proteins on the surface of the virus and are the rapid tests. The accuracy of these tests is not as good as the PCR, especially if the result comes back negative. This test also uses a sample from the nose or throat.
The other COVID-19 test available is an antibody test, which WILL NOT DIAGNOSE A CURRENT INFECTION. This test detects antibodies that your body produces in response to an infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and uses a blood sample. The main use for this test currently is to give researchers some estimate of the proportion of the population that has been infected.
Where can I get tested in Pamlico County?
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Pamlico County Health Dept - Bayboro |
Pamlico Community Health Center - Bayboro
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CCHC - Bayboro
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Type of test |
Diagnostic – PCR |
Diagnostic – PCR Or Antibody test |
Diagnostic – PCR & Antigen (rapid) |
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Who can be tested? |
Only residents of Pamlico County* Anyone with underlying health conditions or age 65 or older Anyone who has come in direct contact with a Covid-19 confirmed case** Healthcare workers, first responders or workers in high risk settings or congregate living facilities Anyone who lives in a congregate living facility Uninsured individuals |
Only established patients of this facility |
Anyone |
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Appointment required |
Yes |
Yes – must schedule visit with provider |
Yes |
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Cost |
Billed to insurance if available, no co-pay; Otherwise billed to the state |
Insurance billed for provider visit, may have a co-pay for the visit; no charge for test |
Insurance billed, no co-pay; self-pay patients not charged |
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Length of time to get results |
5 – 7 days |
2 – 3 days for both tests |
PCR – 3 - 5 days; Antigen test – same day if done before noon, otherwise next day |
*The Health Dept recommends if you have a primary care provider & have insurance that you go to your
provider for testing, unless you are unable to get an appointment.
**Contacts will need to provide the case ID number of the positive case & the county they live in for
verification. This is used to link contacts to positive cases & track the spread.
Nova Urgent Care Pamlico in Grantsboro is not doing any COVID-19 testing.
What if I test positive?
If you have a positive test result, you will be contacted by the Health Department. It is very important that you answer this call to provide them with information about who you may have exposed. Your name will remain confidential when your contacts are called.
You will be advised to isolate for a minimum of 10 days.
The identification of those who are infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus is important to get the spread of the virus under control. Identification followed by isolation of those who are positive and quarantine of those who have been in direct contact and may be infected reduces the number of infected individuals out in the community who could infect more individuals.