We test patients who arrive with symptoms, as part of an emergency evaluation. Open 24 hours a day in Pantego.
Yes, if you have symptoms. Arlington ER tests for COVID-19 as part of an emergency evaluation when you arrive unwell. We are an emergency room, not a testing site, so testing happens alongside an examination rather than on its own.
If you feel well and simply need a result for travel, work, school or after a known exposure, a pharmacy or a walk-in clinic is the right place to go. It will cost you far less, and you will be seen faster. We would rather tell you that now than after you have arrived.
If you are unwell enough that you are wondering whether you need to be seen, that is a different question, and the rest of this page answers it.
Most cases begin like any other respiratory infection: a sore throat, a cough, tiredness, a headache, aches, sometimes a fever. There is no single symptom that separates COVID-19 from influenza or the other viruses circulating at the same time, which is the reason testing exists at all.
The pattern matters more than any individual symptom. Most people feel worst in the first two or three days and then steadily improve. A smaller number improve, then turn a corner and feel worse again toward the end of the first week. That second dip is the one to watch, because it is when breathing problems tend to appear.
Loss of taste or smell is far less common than it was in the early years of the pandemic, so its absence tells you nothing. Equally, a symptom list is not a diagnosis. Two people with identical symptoms can have entirely different infections, and only one of them may need treating.
If you are recovering at home, the thing to track is not the fever. It is your breathing. A cough that stays the same for a week is unremarkable. A cough that starts leaving you short of breath on the stairs is not.
Most people with COVID-19 recover at home with rest and fluids. An emergency room is the right choice when breathing becomes difficult, when you cannot keep fluids down, or when someone becomes confused or unusually hard to rouse. Those are the symptoms that change what happens next.
Breathlessness at rest, or struggling to finish a sentence. This is the single most important reason to come in.
Persistent tightness or pressure in the chest, which needs ruling out rather than watching.
New confusion, difficulty staying awake, or someone who is hard to wake properly.
Vomiting or diarrhoea that stops you keeping fluids down, or passing very little urine.
Call 911 rather than driving if breathing is severely difficult, if the lips or face look blue or grey, or if someone cannot be woken. Those situations need treatment to start before arrival.
Two groups should have a lower threshold for being seen: anyone over 65, and anyone with a heart or lung condition, diabetes, or a weakened immune system. In those cases a chest that feels only slightly tight is worth an examination rather than a wait-and-see.
Our difficulty breathing and high fever pages go into more detail on when each of those becomes urgent.
We run a respiratory panel from a single swab rather than a COVID-only test. It checks for COVID-19 alongside a range of other respiratory viruses and bacteria, and it runs in our own laboratory inside the building, so the result comes back during your visit.
That matters more than it sounds. COVID-19, influenza and several other respiratory infections produce almost identical symptoms in the first few days. A test that only rules out COVID leaves you knowing what you do not have. A panel tells the physician what you do have, which is what changes the plan.
Because our laboratory is on site, nothing is couriered to an outside facility and nobody is sent home to wait for a phone call. Where the examination calls for it, chest imaging is available in the same visit.
Yes, and it is the most common testing mistake there is. Testing within a day of an exposure usually produces a negative result even in someone who is genuinely infected, because there is not yet enough virus present to detect. The test is accurate. The timing is wrong.
This is why testing the morning after a known exposure is close to pointless, and why people are often told to wait several days or until symptoms appear. A negative result taken too early tells you what was true yesterday, not what is true now.
It also explains a scenario we see: someone tests negative at home on day one, feels worse by day four, and assumes it cannot be COVID because they already checked. If your symptoms are getting worse, an early negative result should not reassure you.
None of that changes when to come here, because we are not testing you on a schedule. We test because you have arrived unwell and the result affects what happens next.
It depends entirely on whether you are ill. Testing to satisfy a requirement is a different task from being assessed because you feel unwell, and the two belong in different places.
| Your situation | Where to go | Why |
| No symptoms, need a result for travel or work | Pharmacy or walk-in clinic | Far cheaper and faster. An emergency room is not built for this. |
| Mild symptoms, otherwise well | Home test, or your own doctor | Most people recover at home. A test rarely changes what you do. |
| Known exposure, feeling fine | Pharmacy or home test | Testing too early gives a false result. There is nothing for an ER to treat. |
| Symptoms plus breathing trouble, chest pain, confusion or dehydration | Emergency room | These need examining, not testing. Testing is part of that examination. |
| Over 65, or a heart, lung or immune condition, and unwell | Emergency room | The threshold is lower because these groups deteriorate faster. |
You are checked in, assessed by a nurse, and taken to a private treatment room rather than a shared waiting area. A board-certified emergency physician examines you, and the swab is taken during that examination rather than before it.
Breathing, oxygen level, pulse and temperature are checked before anything else, because those decide how urgent the visit is.
A single sample goes to our laboratory in the building and is tested for a panel of respiratory infections at once.
If the examination suggests the infection has reached the lungs, chest imaging happens in the same visit.
Most people go home the same visit with a plan and clear instructions on what would mean coming back.
Most patients are treated and discharged. A smaller number need oxygen, fluids or a period of monitoring, and a few need admitting to a hospital, in which case we arrange the transfer rather than sending you to organise it yourself.
Before you leave you will be told plainly what would mean returning: breathing that worsens, an inability to keep fluids down, or new confusion. Those are not vague reassurances. They are the specific changes that matter.
Most people searching for COVID testing near Pantego do not need an emergency room, and we would rather say so plainly than take a visit that was never necessary.
In every one of those, a pharmacy, a home test or your own doctor will serve you better and cost a fraction of what an emergency visit costs. Nothing is gained by coming here, and a good deal is lost.
Come to us when you are unwell and unsure. That is the situation an emergency room exists for.
There is no standalone test price here, because there is no standalone test. The swab is one part of an emergency room visit, and an emergency room visit is billed as an emergency room visit regardless of what the result turns out to be.
That is the single most important thing to understand before you drive over. A negative result does not reduce the bill. Feeling better by the time you are seen does not reduce it either. If cost is the deciding factor and you are not seriously unwell, the pharmacy is the better answer and we will keep saying so.
If you are unwell enough to need us, cost should not stop you coming. Our full network status and published charges are set out on our insurance information page, and the Care Relief Program is open to insured and uninsured patients alike. Applications are reviewed individually and take about two minutes.
We are at 1607 S Bowen Rd in Pantego, between Park Row Drive and West Pioneer Parkway, a few minutes from central Arlington and close to the Dalworthington Gardens line. Parking is free and directly outside the entrance, so nobody has to walk far while feeling unwell.
We are open 24 hours a day, every day of the year, including holidays. There is no appointment, no referral and nothing to book. Walk in at any hour and a board-certified emergency physician will see you.
You can see the full range of conditions we treat on our emergency services page, or reach the team through contact us.
No. We test as part of an emergency evaluation for patients who arrive unwell. If you have no symptoms and need a result for travel, work or after an exposure, a pharmacy or walk-in clinic is the right place.
No. Arlington ER is a walk-in emergency room, open 24 hours a day with no appointment and no referral required. You will be examined by a physician, and testing forms part of that examination.
Our laboratory is inside the building, so the sample is not sent out and results come back during your visit rather than by phone a day or two later.
Yes. We run a respiratory panel from a single swab, which checks for COVID-19 alongside influenza and other respiratory infections. Their early symptoms overlap almost completely, so testing for one alone often is not enough.
The visit is billed as an emergency room visit, and your plan processes it as one. Coverage depends on your own plan, deductible and coinsurance. Our published charges and network status are set out on our insurance information page.
Yes. We treat adults and children at every hour. The same guidance applies: bring a child in if they are struggling to breathe, cannot keep fluids down, or are unusually drowsy or hard to rouse.
Your insurance card, a photo ID, a list of any medications, and any known allergies. If you do not have those with you, come anyway. Nothing on that list is a condition of being treated.
Call 911 if breathing is severely difficult, if the lips or face look blue or grey, or if someone cannot be woken. In those cases treatment needs to start before arrival rather than on arrival.
Medically reviewed by Rahman Mohammed, MD | Last Updated: September 18, 2026
Arlington ER is open 24 hours a day at 1607 S Bowen Rd in Pantego. Walk in at any hour, with no appointment. If breathing is severely difficult or someone cannot be woken, call 911 instead of driving.