COVID-19 Sampling and Testing Information

Text Message Instructions for Q-less Testing:

The Sedgwick County Health Department (SCHD) offers no-cost sampling at the Sedgwick County Park, Sunflower Shelter, 6501 W 21st St, Wichita, KS 67205.  Click here for access to a map of Sedgwick County Park.

• No-cost sampling is regularly available for residents, regardless of symptoms, through the SCHD Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Wednesday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. No appointment is required.
• Other testing sites are available. See links below:

The SCHD offers the following three (3) COVID-19 sampling options through our in-house lab and Wichita State University. These options are molecular tests and NOT antigen tests.  If you require an antigen test for travel or for leaving quarantine, you should contact your health provider or an urgent care facility.

• Nasal Cavity Swab (swab of both nasal cavities)
• Oral Swab (swab of back of throat)
• Saliva (spit a small amount of salvia into a testing cup)
  • To provide a saliva sample, you must not eat, drink beverages, smoke, brush teeth or chew gum at least 30 minutes prior to appointment.
  • Saliva is not recommended for younger children or those who have a hard time producing saliva (i.e. those on medications that cause dry mouth).

Results Information:

• Results are generally available by the afternoon of the next weekday (see table below)
• These tests are not antibody tests, but show if you have a current infection

Who Should be Tested?

• After infection with a virus, the level of virus in a person’s body increases over time and then decreases when your immune system fights it off.
• The COVID-19 test will be positive if the amount of virus in your body is high enough to be detected by the test.
  • Symptoms are the best indication that the level of virus is detectable, but you can still test positive even if you don’t have symptoms.
• A negative COVID-19 test could mean that you do not have the virus OR it could mean that you don’t have enough virus in your body for it to be detectable.
  • Testing only indicates what is going on in your body at the time of the test.
  • A person with a negative test one day can test positive the next day or several days later if the amount of virus in their body increases, or if they are exposed after testing.
• Knowing your risk of exposure and your symptoms on the day of testing are important for the lab to properly interpret your results.

What happens if someone tests positive for COVID-19?

• If you test positive for COVID-19, you must remain at home for 10 full days after you first noticed symptoms, or 72 hours after symptoms are gone, whichever is longer.
• You should stay away from other people in your home to avoid spreading the virus to them.
  • If you can isolate in a room by yourself and use a separate bathroom that is the best. If you can’t, you should stay as far away from other household members as possible. 
  • Wear a mask.
  • Surfaces (like door knobs, tabletops, and bathroom fixtures) in your home should be disinfected daily.
  • You should not share food or personal items with other household members.
  • Wear a mask when other people are present and maintain six feet distance.
• The Health Department will help identify your close contacts, who will be referred to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) for follow-up. This only occurs if you give permission.  Close contacts should complete the modified in-home quarantine as described below or as recommended by KDHE.

Sedgwick County COVID-19 Modified Quarantine

Definition of a “close contact”

You are considered a “close contact” if any of the following situations happened while you were with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 – even if they did not have symptoms:

• You were within 6 feet of the person for 10 minutes or more.
• You had contact with the person’s respiratory secretions (sneezing, coughing, sharing a drinking glass, food, towels or other personal items, kissing).
• You live with the person or stayed overnight for at least one night in the person’s house.

Close contacts of people who have a confirmed positive test for COVID-19

• You will be contacted by the Health Department if you are a close contact of a person who has tested positive.
• If you are contacted, you should observe quarantine requirements as outlined in the modified quarantine guidelines below.
• If you develop symptoms while you are in quarantine, you can check the testing locator website (insert link) to find a testing location near you.
• If you test positive, you can spread the virus and should remain at home and in isolation for 10 full days from the start of your symptoms or 72 hours after you symptoms stop, whichever is longer (minimum of 10 days).

7-Day quarantine for people who may have been exposed but have no symptoms and get tested

• Monitor yourself for symptoms for a full 14 days. Infection can develop through day 14.
• If you have no symptoms by Day 6, get a PCR test. You can check the testing locator website to find a testing location near you.
  • Antigen and antibody tests are not allowed for this purpose.
• If the test is negative, and you do not develop symptoms, you can leave in-home quarantine after 7 full days (which is on day 8).
• If you have not received the results of your PCR test on Day 8, you should remain in-home quarantine until you get your results.

10-Day quarantine for people who have been exposed, but have no symptoms and do not wish to be tested

• Monitor yourself for symptoms for a full 14 days. Infection can develop through day 14.
• If you have no symptoms during the first 10 days, you can be released from quarantine without a test on Day 11.
• If you develop symptoms, or decide to be tested while in quarantine, you can check the testing locator website to find a testing location near you.
  • If you decide to be tested and do not have symptoms, the Health Department recommends that you wait until day 6 or 7 of quarantine to ensure that the level of virus in your body would be detectable.
• If you test positive, even if you have no symptoms, you can spread the virus and should remain at home in isolation for 10 full days from the date you were sampled.

Modified Disease Investigation

• The Health Department has prioritized COVID-19 case investigations based on the level of risk for the spread of disease.
  • Disease investigators will investigate positive cases in the following order of priority: cases tested by the Health Department, cases reported from clusters and potential clusters, cases reported from schools, cases in school-aged children (not reported by schools), and other cases as resources allow. 
• To help contain the spread of disease, if you test positive, you should reach out to your own close contacts and let them know of their potential exposure and about the 7 and 10-day in-home modified quarantine under the guidance above.

For more information, please visit:

• CDC Coronavirus website at https://www.cdc.gov
• Sedgwick County COVID-19 facts and details.