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1. How can I get tested?

How to get tested

RCHD Free COVID-19 Testing 

Testing is offered Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Manhattan Town Center parking lot on the north side from 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM. 

Rapid and saliva-based testing is available for free. 

For test results at our Manhattan Town Center location please contact: 

Email [email protected]

Call 785-322-9195

QUESTIONS?

Please call the appropriate phone number below for COVID questions: 

General testing / vaccine: 785-565-6560 (asymptomatic, pre-flight, vaccine scheduling)

COVID Screening Line: 785-323-6400 (symptomatic; to schedule a rapid test at RCHD)

K-State students should contact Lafene Health Center to get tested.  785-532-6544 https://www.k-state.edu/lafene/ 

2. How will I be notified of test results?

You will be contacted by phone. Your doctor or the Riley County Health Department will call you using the phone number you provided when you were tested.

For test results at our Manhattan Town Center location please contact: 

Email [email protected]

Call 785-322-9195

If you have any doubt about whether the person contacting you is from your doctor’s office or the Health Department, hang up and call your doctor directly or call the RCHD at (785) 565-6558.

3. Do you have to have a fever to get tested?

No. According to KDHE guidelines, you can get tested if you have at least TWO of the symptoms below OR be a close contact of a positive patient.

Signs and symptoms of COVID-19 infection most commonly include:

• fever of 100.4 or higher
• chills
• stiff joints and/or muscle ache
• fatigue
• headache
• sore throat
• cough/ shortness of breath/ difficulty breathing
• loss of taste or smell
• diarrhea (that does not have another cause)
• congestion/ runny nose

Patients with at least two symptoms may be eligible for testing. The symptoms of coronavirus may appear 2-14 days after exposure (based on the incubation period of MERS-CoV viruses).

4. How long do test results take?

Test results from the Riley County Swabbing site are taking 2-3 days. 

Rapid test results take 15-20 minutes. 

5. Is Riley County testing for antibodies?

No. All tests performed by the Health Department or included in Riley County statistics are viral tests, which check for active virus. 

Patients are only counted once, even if they have received multiple tests. 

Two kinds of tests are available for COVID-19: viral tests and antibody tests.

• A viral test tells you if you have a current infection.
• An antibody test might tell you if you had a past infection. An antibody test might not show if you have a current infection because it can take 1–3 weeks after infection for your body to make antibodies. Having antibodies to the virus that causes COVID-19 might provide protection from getting infected with the virus again. If it does, we do not know how much protection the antibodies might provide or how long this protection might last.

6. Do I have to quarantine after I get tested?

In almost all situations, quarantine is required for a person waiting for COVID-19 test results. However, since everyone can participate in the free testing events in Riley County, even those who do not have symptoms and have not had known close contact with a positive patient, quarantine is highly recommended instead of required in those circumstances.

Some workplaces require that employees stay home and quarantine if they are tested, including the free testing events. A workplace can make that distinction for their employees.

If you are sick or would like information about testing, please call the Riley County Screening Line at 785-323-6400. The Screening Line is staffed by nurses and is available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. If you are experiencing life-threatening symptoms, call 911.

7. What happens if I test positive for COVID-19?

You have tested positive for COVID-19, now what?

Step 1: Go home and isolate

·      You must isolate for at least 10 full days from the date of your positive test result with at least 72 hours of symptom improvement.

Step 2: Gather a list of names and phone numbers of your close contacts

·      Notify them that they are a close contact and need to quarantine (exception is if they are fully vaccinated).

·      If fully vaccinated, close contacts and household contacts do not need to quarantine.

·      If not fully vaccinated, close contacts must quarantine for 10 days from last date of contact with the positive case.

o   A close contact is a person that was within 6 feet of positive case for more than 10 minutes, with or without a mask.

·      If not fully vaccinated, household contacts must quarantine for 20 days from the positive case’s test date.

o   A positive case is contagious for at least 10 days from their test date, so family members must quarantine for an additional 10 days after their recovery/release from isolation.

o   The local health department can send an official letter to close contacts that they can give to their employer.  We do not have to tell a close contact the name of their positive case that exposed them.

Step 3: A contact tracer from the Riley County Health Department will reach out to the positive case and complete a contact tracing investigation.  They can also send an isolation letter that the positive case can give to their employer. (Please be patient, as our cases are increasing)

o   Sometimes it takes us a few days to receive test results.  The positive case can proactively call the Riley Co. Health Dept. at: Contact Tracing Line: 785-565-6558 or email [email protected]

Step 4: After 10 full days of isolation, if the positive case’s symptoms are improving and they have not had a fever for at least 72 hours, a contact tracer can declare them recovered and no longer contagious. The positive case will then be released from isolation at that time. 

·      The contact tracer can also send a Letter of Recovery stating they have been monitored by the local health department and deemed no longer contagious.  This document can be given to employers, airlines, etc. in place of a negative PCR test (An individual may continue to test positive for up to 6 months after the initial infection. Please do not get retested, trying to get a negative result. It may not happen.)