Symptoms

You should get tested if you have any COVID-19 symptom.

If you have any of these core symptoms, you are legally required to isolate for at least 10 days from the start of your symptoms or until they are gone, whichever is longer:

  • Fever
  • Cough (new cough or worsening chronic cough)
  • Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing (new or worsening)
  • Runny nose
  • Sore throat

If you have any of these other symptoms, you should stay home and limit contact with others until your symptoms are gone:

  • Chills
  • Painful swallowing
  • Stuffy nose
  • Headache
  • Muscle or joint aches
  • Feeling unwell, fatigue or severe exhaustion
  • Gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or unexplained loss of appetite)
  • Loss of sense of smell or taste
  • Conjunctivitis, commonly known as pink eye

Monitor your health and call Health Link 811 or your health care provider if you have questions or concerns. Call 911 immediately if experiencing severe symptoms of COVID-19, including difficulty breathing, severe chest pain, feelings of confusion or loss of consciousness.

Who can be tested

In preparation for winter cold and influenza season, testing is available for Albertans with symptoms, and anyone who has no symptoms but is a close contact of a confirmed case or linked to an outbreak. This will reduce testing wait times and speed up access to results.

Priority testing is available to:

  • any person exhibiting any symptom of COVID-19
  • all close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases
  • all workers and/or residents at specific outbreak sites

Asymptomatic testing pause

Starting October 20, 2020, we are pausing asymptomatic testing for those with no COVID-19 exposure.

Pharmacies will no longer book new patients for asymptomatic testing. Pharmacies may honour tests that have been booked between now and November 4, 2020.

Alberta Health Services will continue to provide asymptomatic testing to close contacts of a confirmed case or individuals linked to an outbreak.

How to get tested

Book a test

If you have symptoms or known exposure to COVID-19, you must stay home and book your test online with AHS assessment tool or call Health Link 811.

Take the assessment / Book a test

Health care, shelter and enforcement personnel testing

The following online assessment tool and flowchart are available for front-line workers:

Industry-initiated testing

Guidelines and parameters are available for companies that want to request and pay for testing for their employees, contractors or clients. Public testing is a priority.

Get your results online

Access COVID-19 test results for you and your child through MyHealth Records. This is a secure online service that helps keep track of your health information.

Assess your risk

Some people have a higher risk of experiencing severe health outcomes, including hospitalization, intensive care or death.

Assess your severe illness risk

Alberta's testing program

Alberta has one of the highest testing rates in the world. We offer free-of-charge testing to:

  • trace the spread of the virus so we can identify steps to limit further spread
  • determine how well our public health measures are working
  • get a point-in-time assessment of the prevalence of COVID-19 in Alberta
  • inform decisions to move to the next stage of Alberta's relaunch strategy

Help prevent the spread

Download and use the ABTraceTogether contact tracing app when out in public. This voluntary app helps let you know if you've been exposed to COVID-19 – or if you've exposed others – while protecting your privacy.

See other ways to help prevent the spread.

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