Who should get tested for current infection?
CDC recommends that anyone with any signs or symptoms of COVID-19 get tested, regardless of vaccination status or prior infection. If you get tested because you have symptoms or were potentially exposed to the virus, you should stay away from others pending test results and follow the advice of your healthcare provider or a public health professional.
CDC TESTING GUIDANCE
Treatments Your Healthcare Provider Might Recommend if You Are Sick
If you test positive and are an older adult or someone who is at high risk of getting very sick from COVID-19, treatment may be available. Contact a healthcare provider right away after a positive test to determine if you are eligible, even if your symptoms are mild right now.
You can also visit a Test to Treat location and, if eligible, receive a prescription from a provider.
Don’t delay: Treatment must be started within the first few days to be effective.
Antiviral Treatment
Antiviral medications target specific parts of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to stop making copies of itself in your body. This may ease symptoms and shorten the length of a COVID-19 viral infection.
Oral antivirals are available with a prescription from a healthcare provider. Pills should be started as soon as possible after you test positive for COVID-19 and within 5 days after your first symptoms start.
Intravenous antiviral is available with a prescription from a health care provider. The treatment is given as an infusion over three days, should be started as soon as possible after you test positive for COVID-19, and within 7 days after your first symptoms start.
Contact your healthcare provider to discuss antiviral treatment options for COVID-19.
Monoclonal Antibody Treatment
There are currently no FDA authorized monoclonal antibody treatments for COVID-19 available in the US.
Contact your healthcare provider to discuss other approved or authorized treatment options for COVID-19.
COVID-19 Preventive Medication
On January 26, the FDA announced that Evusheld (tixagevimab co-packaged with cilgavimab) is no longer authorized for emergency use in the U.S. because it unlikely to be active against more than 90% of the SARS-CoV-2 variants currently circulating in the U.S. based on the latest CDC data. Please visit the FDA’s website for additional details.
Additional Resources
- Don’t Delay: Test Soon and Treat Early | Additional Languages
- COVID-19 Treatments and Therapeutics
- Treatment Options for COVID-19
- Self-Testing at Home or Anywhere
- If You Are Sick or Caring for Someone with COVID-19
Provider Resources
- COVID Therapeutics Locator
- COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines: What’s New
- Coronavirus (COVID-19) | Drugs | FDA
- Side-by-Side Overview of Outpatient Therapies Authorized for Treatment of Mild-Moderate COVID-19 | ASPR
- The COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel’s Statement on Therapies for High-Risk, Nonhospitalized Patients With Mild to Moderate COVID-19
- Clinical Quick Care Quick Reference for COVID-19