Help Combat
COVID-19.

COVID-19 is a disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2, more commonly called coronavirus. The disease causes a wide range of symptoms. Some people who are infected may feel perfectly well. Others have a flu-like illness with fever, cough, diarrhea and even loss of smell. Still others can get life-threatening diseases involving the lungs and other organ systems.

SARS-CoV-2 is a virus. Like all viruses, it is made up of genetic material--in this case, RNA--surrounded by a capsid or shell. These viruses have the ability to enter human cells to cause disease.

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that look like a crown (corona) through a microscope. Many different members of the coronavirus family infect animals and humans. The most common coronaviruses in the family cause symptoms like the common cold but three cause severe disease: SARS (probably from bats), MERS (from camels) and now SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19. The source of SARS-CoV-2 is still under investigation.

The most common way to know if a person is infected with SARS-CoV-2 is to do a swab of the nose or throat and see if there is evidence of the virus there. The laboratory uses a technique called polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to look for genetic evidence of the virus. This technique can detect infection 97% of the time. Genetic material can last in the nose and mouth after the viruses have been destroyed, so sometimes, tests may show evidence of coronavirus—like leaving a fingerprint—even after infection has cleared up. Finding the virus in a swab, however, means you have been infected relatively recently (within a few weeks).

Yes, but it is rare.

Antibodies are proteins that attach to things like viruses and help the body’s immune system kill these invaders. Humans produce new antibodies any time they are infected with a new germ. Like a factory trying to build something new, this can take time. Antibodies and the infections they fight are like keys and locks: they match one another closely. After infection starts, a few weeks may go by before there are enough antibodies in the blood for the laboratory to be able to find them. Then, they can stay in the blood for a long time, even after the infection is gone. If the matching antibody to the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19) is present in the blood, that means the virus once infected that person. Because antibodies can stay in the blood for a long time, however, we don’t know exactly when the infection happened.

We are looking for coronavirus (COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2) antibodies in your blood. Your body makes coronavirus antibodies when you have the coronavirus or when you are vaccinated. Antibodies stay in your blood after the virus is gone and tell us you were once infected (or vaccinated). They don’t tell us when you were infected, though, or whether you still have infection.

The nasal swab test looks for the genes for coronavirus in your nose; it shows you are carrying the infection and may be able to transmit it to others. Our antibody test does not show us whether you are carrying the virus right now. It only tells us that you may have been exposed to it at some time, whether you knew it or not.

A negative result can mean one of these four things:

A positive result can mean one of three things:

No matter whether you test positive or negative, you should continue to follow all the recommendations of your county's Public Health Department

The best place for information is your county's Public Health Department. They are there to keep you safe and informed.

For Santa Clara County, go to: https://covid19.sccgov.org/home

For Solano County, go to: http://www.solanocounty.com/depts/ph/ncov.asp