Background:
Testing is an important pandemic control tool for covid-19, allows the identification of vulnerable populations and regions, where strategies can be adopted both for intensification and relaxation of control actions. in brazil, access to health services is unequal, consequently, access to tests for covid-19 may be hampered for different population profiles.

Objective:
Describe the frequency of each type of diagnostic test performed for covid-19 in residents of the state of rio de janeiro according to sociodemographic and clinical characteristics.

Methods:
Cross-sectional descriptive study with a quantitative approach, using secondary data from the esus notifica database, where suspected cases of covid-19 are reported. the study population is individuals notified to the system, residents of the state of rio de janeiro and who have undergone some test. the frequency distributions of the studied population were described by sex, race/color, age group and health region of residence, health conditions and symptoms, according to the type of test performed. the research period was from 2020 to 2021, divided into 4 semesters, according to the offer of tests and change in testing criteria guided by the ministry of health.

Results:
The year 2020 the most used test was the rapid antibody test, in the first half of 2021 was rt-pcr and in the second the rapid antigen test. in relation to rt-pcr, in all periods the indigenous race/color presented the lowest percentage and the white race/color the highest. under 20 s of age have higher percentages for rapid antigen or antibody tests.

Conclusion:
The temporal change of the guidelines on testing from the ministry of health was observed. there was a difference in access to the tests between the categories of race/color, age groups and health regions studied. to reduce iniquity, specific actions must be taken for each population so that access is egalitarian.