If you have questions about coronavirus symptoms and care, please contact your primary care provider. If you don’t have one, call us at 833-647-8222. Health care professionals are available 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week.

Try our screening tool in MyChart, our online patient portal. The tool asks you to fill out a brief questionnaire, then provides guidance on next steps. You'll need to sign in to MyChart as an OHSU patient.

• You can download the MyChart app from Apple or Google.
• Or you can log in to MyChart on a desktop or laptop.

OHSU has two drive-up testing sites for anyone older than 2 months with COVID-19 symptoms, including:

• Fever
• Cough
• Shortness of breath
• Chills
• Muscle pain
• New loss of taste or smell
• Vomiting or diarrhea
• Sore throat

You don’t need an appointment or referral from a provider. The criteria are expected to change in accordance with CDC guidance and the availability of supplies.

• Westside Mobile Testing Site: Hillsboro Stadium, 4450 N.E. Century Blvd., Hillsboro, OR 97124; noon to 6 p.m., Monday to Saturday
• North Mobile Testing Site: Portland Expo Center, 2060 N. Marine Drive, Portland, OR 97217; noon to 6 p.m., Monday to Saturday

Support from family and friends is an important part of a patient’s healing. Because of COVID-19, however, we have temporarily changed our visitor policy to keep everyone safe. Family and friends are encouraged to connect with loved ones in the hospital by phone or other electronic communications.

ONLY patients are allowed in OHSU buildings. Please see exceptions below. 

Everyone age 2 and older must wear a mask in the hospital. 

Visiting patients in the hospital

• One healthy person age 18 or older at a time, and no more than two per day, may visit:
  • A patient with limited comprehension, or a patient whose care team thinks the person needs a visitor for care and safety
  • Any patient, temporarily, to learn discharge instructions for when the person leaves the hospital

• One healthy parent or guardian at a time may visit:
  • A newborn in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
  • A child having a procedure or surgery
  • A child in our outpatient clinics

• Two healthy parents or guardians at a time may visit:
  • A baby (not a newborn) in the hospital nursery
  • A child's hospital room

• Two healthy people age 18 or older per day may visit a patient at the same time during end-of-life care.

Surgery and other procedures

For adult patients:

• One healthy person age 18 or older may accompany:
  • A patient with limited comprehension, or a patient whose care team thinks the person needs a visitor for care and safety
  • Any patient, temporarily, to learn discharge instructions for when the person leaves the hospital
• Patients are required to have a responsible adult take them home. This person will need to drop you off and come back to pick you up.  They cannot wait in the building at this time.

For children:

• One healthy adult can be with a pediatric patient for check-in and leading up to the procedure and during the recovery period.

Clinics

• One healthy person age 18 or older can come with the patient if the person is the patient’s necessary caregiver or legal decision-maker. 
• If someone drives you to your appointment, they will need to drop you off and come back to pick you up. They cannot wait in the building at this time.

Surgeries, procedures and appointments: OHSU has resumed most services. To check on upcoming appointments, you can call your clinic or check MyChart.

Clinical trials: OHSU halted in-person visits for studies that are not medically necessary. Contact your team or principal investigator with questions specific to your study.

Events: Many events have been canceled. You should hear from organizers, or check the event listing.

We welcome patients for prenatal appointments, labor and delivery. These visits are safe. We’ve taken extensive precautions to disinfect rooms and equipment after each patient.

Prenatal visits are important for the health of you and your baby. We’re also prepared for any complication that may occur during labor or delivery.

Arriving for delivery: Enter the hospital through the Emergency Department on Campus Drive. There is a separate throughway for pregnant patients. Identify yourself as in labor.

Temporary visitor policies: We’re strictly limiting visitors so we can protect patients and staff from the spread of COVID-19.

• Prenatal visits: No guest may come with you to a prenatal appointment. Please ask about using a video chat option, such as FaceTime, or taking video or photos to share later.
• Labor and delivery: One healthy person age 18 or older can come with you into the hospital and to the labor floor. We ask that the person stay with you at all times.

Tram: The Portland Aerial Tram is open for patients but not the public. Capacity is limited. Learn more and find alternatives.

Transportation and parking: Find detailed updates on OHSU parking, shuttles, badge access, bike valet services, ride sharing and more.

OHSU is grateful for the many generous food donations for our front-line staff during this crisis. We ask that you please help us make sure that donations are orderly and safe by donating money through our partner, Frontline Foods PDX.

You can designate OHSU as the recipient. Your gift to this volunteer-run chapter of the national Frontline Foods network is tax-deductible.

The OHSU Foundation has created a fund to help OHSU leaders meet urgent COVID-19 needs. Your donation will help OHSU supply our health care providers with the resources they need to care for patients and to stop the spread.

COVID-19 information

• Oregon Health Authority COVID-19 Updates
• Oregon Coronavirus Information and Resources, Oregon governor’s office
• Coronavirus (COVID-19), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• COVID-19 guidance for businesses, Multnomah County Health

FAQ

• COVID-19: Frequently Asked Questions, Oregon Health Authority
• Frequently Asked Questions, CDC
• Q&A on Coronaviruses, World Health Organization

Community resources

• Call 2-1-1 from a mobile phone
• Call 503-222-5555 from a landline
• Email help@211.com for general information

Health departments

• Clackamas County Health
• Multnomah County Health
• Washington County Health
• Public health departments statewide

News sources

These news organizations either have no paywall or have made some coronavirus stories available to everyone:

• The Oregonian/OregonLive
• OPB
• KGW
• KOIN
• KPTV
• KATU
• The Seattle Times
• The Washington Post
• The New York Times
• The Associated Press

Information by topic

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has information on:

• CDC Coronavirus Self-Checker
• How to protect yourself
• If you are sick or caring for someone who is sick
• People who need extra precautions
• Pregnancy, breastfeeding and caring for young children
• Daily life and coping
• Cloth face coverings
• Travel
• Pets and other animals
• Communities, schools and workplaces

• COVID-19 information on O2
• Teleworking information on O2
• COVID-19 Wellness

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers a series of videos on COVID-19 in American Sign Language. See one here and find the full series on YouTube.

The disease: COVID-19 is the illness caused by a newly identified coronavirus. COVID stands for coronavirus disease, and 19 refers to the year it started.

The coronavirus: The virus itself is called SARS-CoV-2, short for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.

Background: Coronaviruses are part of a large group of viruses that cause illness. Some coronaviruses cause mild illness, such as the common cold. Others can cause serious illness, such as COVID-19.

According to the CDC, symptoms are:

• Fever
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Chills
• Muscle pain
• Headache
• Sore throat
• New loss of taste or smell
• Less common: Gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting or diarrhea

If you see emergency signs, call 911 or your emergency department. They are:

• Trouble breathing
• Persistent pain or pressure in the chest
• New confusion or inability to awaken
• Bluish lips or face
• Other severe symptoms

According to the CDC, symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure.

Precise information on how long symptoms last isn’t available. But according to a World Health Organization report, based on preliminary data from 55,924 confirmed cases in China:

• Mild cases lasted about two weeks.
• Severe cases lasted three to six weeks.
• Patients who died had symptoms for two to eight weeks beforehand.

There is no vaccine to prevent infection with the coronavirus. The World Health Organization is tracking dozens of potential vaccines, including some in clinical trials (tests on humans). This piece in The New York Times outlines how vaccines are developed.

The FDA has approved one medication, under an emergency-use authorization. to treat COVID-19 in patients who are in the hospital. Early results from a clinical trial showed that remdesivir, an antiviral medication, can shorten recovery times. Many other potential medications are in clinical trials in the U.S., China and other countries.

Yes. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends keeping and not delaying well-child visits for all ages (infants, children and adolescents).

The AAP issued updated guidance May 8 to encourage well-child visits, as concerning data shows children are missing check-ups and vaccinations.

Vaccinations are essential to protecting all children against dangerous and preventable diseases such as measles, meningitis and whooping cough.

The AAP recommends:

• All well-child visits should take place in person whenever possible, with the providers who have routinely seen your children.
• Clinics who care for children should call families who have missed an in-person visit to reschedule.
• Families should not delay visits to their child's doctors (pediatricians, family medicine or nurse practitioners, physician assistants.)
• Children and youths who regularly see specialists should resume, and those who are referred to specialists should complete these visits.

The AAP says some well-child visits can start through a virtual visit (by video or phone) but that parts of these visits must be done in person. At Doernbecher clinics, we are doing well-child visits only in person.

OHSU and OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital clinics and providers are using all public health recommendations to keep visits safe.

Antibody tests

Antibody tests detect antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Antibodies are tiny proteins that the body’s immune system releases into the bloodstream to fight infection.

If someone has antibodies, it means the person had enough exposure to the coronavirus to have an immune response, with or without symptoms. For this test, a person gives a blood sample. These tests are also called serum tests or serology tests.

These tests are important for detecting infections in people who had few or no symptoms. Widely available antibody testing would help determine how much of the U.S. population has been exposed to SARS-CoV-2.

Coronavirus tests

These tests detect the virus itself. A sample is taken, usually by inserting a swab into the person’s nose to collect mucus. Tests on the sample show if there’s any genetic material from SARS-CoV-2.

In the U.S., people generally get this test only if they have symptoms. The test can show if the coronavirus caused the symptoms.

OHSU scientists expect to have antibody tests available soon. How many tests we can do in a given time, and how widely we can offer them, will depend on supplies. An OHSU committee of experts will help set priorities.

Staff members in OHSU’s CDRC/Molecular Microbiology Lab are evaluating two types of antibody tests:

• A lab-based option that would run many samples at the same time, with results in a few hours.
• A testing-site option that would produce a result in as little as 10 minutes.

Learn more about OHSU’s work on antibody testing.

The CDC recommends that people wear a cloth that covers their nose and mouth in public place anywhere it’s difficult to maintain physical distancing. Examples would be in a grocery store or pharmacy.

The goal is to prevent the wearer from spreading the virus to others, especially when they have no symptoms, not to keep the wearer from getting sick.

The Oregon Health Authority also recommends that people use face coverings in business and public settings.

See CDC instructions for making a cloth face covering:

• In a downloadable PDF
• In a video

There is no evidence that food or food packaging can transmit COVID-19. However, it’s important to follow food safety standards to help protect workers and customers from COVID-19.

In general, because of poor survivability of coronaviruses on surfaces, there is probably very low risk of spread from food products or packaging.

Learn more:

• CDC on food safety
• FDA on food safety
• USDA coronavirus FAQ

According to the CDC, the risk of spread via mail or packaging is low. COVID-19 is thought to spread mainly from person to person. Also remember that it’s a good idea in general to wash your hands often.

It may be possible to get COVID-19 by touching something that has the virus on it, then touching the mouth, nose or eyes. Health experts don’t think this is a main way the virus spreads, but the CDC still recommends cleaning and disinfecting surfaces.

The virus lasts on surfaces for varying amounts of time. It tends to survive longer on metals, hard plastics and cardboard.

It’s important to routinely disinfect surfaces that are used often, such as doorknobs and tables. Also disinfect surfaces that are suspected of being infected. Washing your hands often with soap or hand sanitizer is also encouraged.

Learn more:

• National Institutes of Health on the coronavirus and surfaces