Coronavirus Testing - Minnesota

• Stay home when sick. If you have symptoms and can manage those symptoms at home, you don't have to seek health care or be tested for COVID-19.

• If you are older or have underlying medical conditions, it may be helpful to call your health care provider if you have symptoms to see if they have specific advice for you. If you do not have a provider or are uninsured, call your local public health office, tribal health office or county health department.

• If your symptoms worsen, seek medical care right away and call ahead before going to a doctor's office or emergency room to tell them about your symptoms so they can instruct you how to arrive while minimizing exposure to others.

• Providers determine if testing is needed and where to send samples. Testing is being conducted by the state public health lab, the University of Minnesota, Mayo Clinic and additional private labs.

• Due to limited supplies, the state lab is only testing the highest priority samples, which include hospitalized COVID-19 patients, ill health care workers and ill people living in group settings like nursing homes. People who do not have symptoms should not be tested for COVID-19.

• Test results are typically available within 48 to 72 hours.

• Patients with symptoms who are not able to be tested should isolate themselves from household and intimate contacts as much as possible. Household and intimate contacts of these individuals should limit their activities in public for 14 days after the incorporating precautions in the home, and monitor coronavirus symptoms.

• For more coronavirus information, call the state hotline at 651-201-3920 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. or visit the Minnesota Department of Health's website.