A Negative Result
Please note that starting on Tuesday August 4th, CK Public Health will no longer be notifying asymptomatic patients (those showing no symptoms) of their test results by telephone.
CK Public Health will only be contacting the following whom:
- Test positive for COVID-19
- Were tested symptomatic (showing symptoms)
- Were referred for testing by a healthcare professional
- Were tested at their workplace due to a potential COVID-19 exposure
If you have not received a phone call from CK Public Health within seven (7) business days of having a COVID-19 test, your test result was negative. If you have a “green” Ontario Health Card, you may check your results online!
You’ve recently been tested for COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) and you just learned that the result came back negative.
So what does this COVID-19 test result tell you exactly?
A negative COVID-19 test result tells you that at the time you had the test done, the virus was not found. A COVID-19 test is a snapshot in time if you had the virus only at the time of testing.
COVID-19 swab test does not tell you if you have ever been infected with the virus in the past.
A COVID-19 antibody test (not available in Canada at this time) tells you if you have ever in your lifetime contracted or carried the COVID-19 virus.
Before you resume normal activities, it’s important to know that a negative result does not mean you are out of the woods yet! If you have received a negative test result, please continue to follow CK Public Health’s safety measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the community. This includes:
- Self-isolating immediately if you have returned from travel outside Canada, are sick, or if required for other reasons
- Staying home except when essential;
- Physical distancing, including keeping 2-metres (the length of a hockey stick) from people outside your designated household;
- Washing your hands or using hand sanitizer with 70% alcohol content;
- Avoiding touching your eye, nose, and mouth;
- Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue or your elbow;
- Cleaning phones and other surfaces you touch frequently.
If you have previously had a negative result and begin to have symptoms of COVID-19, please visit the Assessment Centre for another COVID-19 test.
If you have further questions, please contact CK Public Health at 519.355.1071 x 1900 or email covid19@chatham-kent.ca.