• When should sick children stay home from childcare or primary school? (downloadable flowchart)
• When should adolescents and adults stay home from school/work and be tested for COVID-19? (downloadable flowchart)

The most common symptoms for COVID-19 are also common for other respiratory tract infections like colds and influenza. Many have a cough and / or fever. It is also common to have loss of sense of smell or taste, headache, lethargy and aching muscles. Some people go on to develop breathing difficulties. 

People are most contagious in the days before and just after symptoms appear.  This applies to SARS-CoV-2 and a range of other respiratory tract viruses.

See advice for children:

• Children and adolescents
• Test criteria

Advice when you suspect you are infected

• Stay at home if you are unwell/ have newly-arisen respiratory tract symptoms (fever, cough, difficulties in breathing, headache, lethargy, loss of sense of smell and taste, muscle aches, sore throat, etc.)
• You should be tested for coronavirus if you have newly arisen respiratory tract symptoms.
• You should be tested, even if you do not have symptoms, if you are a close contact to someone who is confirmed to be infected, have arrived from a red country/region during the last 10 days or if you suspect you are infected.
• You will find practical information about how, where and when you can be tested on your municipality's website. See the section "About your coronavirus test" below for information on what happens after you have taken a test.

If you are sick and need medical attention, or need health advice, contact your doctor by telephone or electronically. 

• If you need more acute medical help and cannot reach your doctor, call the emergency out-of-hours clinic (116 117).  
• For acute, life-threatening illness, call 113. 

Symptoms of COVID-19, colds and allergies

The table below can help you to distinguish COVID-19 from other respiratory tract infections and from allergies.

How to distinguish between COVID-19 and allergy

Common symptoms of allergy include tearing, itchy and red eyes, a runny nose, nasal congestion and sneezing. These symptoms are less common with COVID-19 (less than 5 per cent of cases). Allergy medicine will often relieve the symptoms.

COVID-19 is not suspected for a person with typical allergy symptoms, without a fever, a new cough or breathing difficulties, loss of sense of taste or smell, sore throat or feeling unwell. People with known allergies who develop additional symptoms that are typical for COVID-19 should be tested. 

People with known allergies can sometimes have a cough and / or breathing difficulties, especially if they also have asthma. Any changes from their usual symptoms should be considered when assessing them for COVID-19. 

About your coronavirus test

When you take a test for coronavirus, the sample is sent to a laboratory for analysis. Normally the answer comes within 1-2 days. Sometimes it takes longer.

Contact a doctor if you become ill or need medical help while waiting for an answer.

What should you do while waiting for your test results?

If you have been tested because you have had common symptoms of coronavirus (fever, cough, shortness of breath or lost sense of taste or smell), you should stay home until you have received your test results. You should not go to work or school, you should not take public transport or visit public places, and you should keep an extra distance from everyone other than those you live with. Those you live with do not have to stay at home, even if they work in the healthcare service.

If you are in quarantine and have been tested because you have had common symptoms of coronavirus (fever, cough, shortness of breath or loss of taste or smell), follow the rules for isolation. The rules for isolation are stricter than for quarantine. Those you live with must be in quarantine until you have received your test result.

If you have taken the test without having COVID-19 symptoms and without being exposed to infection, you do not need to stay home until you have received a test result. This could be, for example, if you take the test because you are involved in a research project, are going to visit an institution, or need to take a test to be able to travel.

How to get your test results

After 1-2 days, you can find the answer to your test on Helsenorge.no:

• Test results (Helsenorge.no)

If you have coronavirus, it will say that the result is positive. If you do not have coronavirus, it will say that the result is negative.

If the test shows that you have coronavirus (positive test result)

If the test shows that you have coronavirus, you shall be in isolation and the municipality will call you to arrange what we call "contact tracing".

Contact tracing is important to be able to stop the infection, and everyone you live with and everyone you have been close to must therefore be in quarantine.

• Quarantine and isolation

The municipality has a duty of confidentiality. It is important that you understand each other, so ask if you have any questions. You can ask for an interpreter if it is difficult to understand the language. The interpreter service is free.

If the test shows that you do not have coronavirus (negative test result)

• If you took the test because you had symptoms of coronavirus, you can go back to work or school when you have no fever and are feeling well. A slight cough or similar that remains is ok.
• If you took the test while in quarantine, you must complete the quarantine, even if you feel well.

See also:

• Information about your coronavirus test - information letter translated into 40 languages.