Positive and negative outbreaks refer to whether the result is positive or negative after a nucleic acid test. Positive means that the person has been infected or is asymptomatically infected, and negative means that there is no new coronavirus in the body. The details are as follows. Positive or negative for neo-coronavirus refers primarily to the nucleic acid results of a transnasal swab for neo-coronavirus. If positive, it is usually considered a possible patient with novel coronavirus pneumonia or an asymptomatic infection. Confirmation of the diagnosis is also based on a combination of the patient’s personal contact history as well as pulmonary CT manifestations and clinical symptoms. In addition, patients who are positive for novel coronavirus should be retested at a higher level of the CDC, and if the retest results are still positive, the patient will be identified as a patient with novel coronavirus and will need to be isolated and treated immediately. Negative results for novel coronavirus means that no novel coronavirus nucleic acid was found in the specimen tested, but for patients who are negative for novel coronavirus, it cannot be ruled out that they are not infected with novel coronavirus, and it is necessary to have two negative tests for novel coronavirus nucleic acid, and then combine with the clinical symptoms of the patient and the chest imaging to rule out the existence of novel coronavirus pneumonia. Tip: In this article, the terms “new coronavirus pneumonia” and “new coronavirus pneumonia” were renamed to “new coronavirus infection” on December 26, 2022, as announced by the National Health Commission.