Testing and Laboratory

Testing Information for Healthcare Providers

General Information:

Setting-Specific Guidance:

Specimen Collection:

Types of Testing and Guidance: 

Serologic Testing:

On-site Testing Requirements:

Laboratory and testing professionals who conduct diagnostic or screening testing for SARS-CoV-2 with antigen tests must comply with Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) regulations. Any laboratory or testing site that intends to report patient-specific test results must first obtain a CLIA certificate and meet all requirements to perform that test. For more information, see the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) summary of the CLIA regulations.  

Questions can be sent to CLIAlab@vdh.virginia.gov

Reporting  to VDH:

Clinicians should utilize the Confidential Morbidity Portal to report suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases as soon as they are identified and point-of- care test results using the  VDH Point-of-Care (POC) Portal. 

Reporting requirements for providers: 

Variants:

For the latest information, the FDA’s SARS-CoV-2 Viral Mutations: Impact on COVID-19 Tests. To see where variant viruses are being identified in Virginia, visit VDH’s Variants of Concern Dashboard. To see how commonly variants are being identified in the U.S. and where variant viruses are being identified, visit CDC’s COVID Data Tracker. The National Institutes of Health COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel Provides information about newer SARS-CoV-2 variants/subvariants along with their recommendations for medication use in specific clinical circumstances. 

Page Last Updated: October 31, 2022

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