At-Home Covid-19 Testing Solution: Empowering Employers To Provide A Safe Workplace

Choosing the right solution to help employees safely return-to-work

The surge of the Delta variant and recurrence of disease even among those who have been vaccinated, coupled with lower-than-expected vaccination rates and concerns about the need for booster injections, are fueling the need for ”testing often,” as a key to stopping the virus spread. A safe return to work continues to be top of mind for employers, as the number of Covid-19 cases again dominates the headlines. This is not the time for companies to let down their guard, as the need continues for Covid-19 at-home and in-office testing. 
 

Meanwhile, some states and cities, including New York City, are requiring government employees and health workers to either provide proof of vaccination, get vaccinated or get regular testing to stop the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant and vaccination rates have plateaued, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  Unvaccinated workers must wear a mask when indoors at work in many locations. The CDC recommends that if you are not vaccinated, you find a vaccine and get one. 

An announcement from President Biden requires that all federal employees will need to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or submit to regular testing. The planned policy comes after similar mandates were unveiled recently, including for health workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs and municipal employees in New York City, to increase vaccination rates and curb the spread of the Delta variant. While the White House doesn't plan to include firing as part of its list of repercussions, it is looking to impose other restrictions on non-compliant employees. Meanwhile, California will require state employees to show proof of Covid-19 vaccination or submit to weekly testing.  

Prevalence of the Delta Variant

In the U.S., the Delta variant accounts for an estimated 83% of Covid-19 cases and there is a 32% increase in Covid hospitalizations in the last few weeks. Cases are rising in all 50 states but several states have low vaccination rates which are accounting for the Delta variant surge.

Originally detected in India, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Delta variant has been identified around the world and is a mutated coronavirus that spreads faster than others. The first U.S. Delta case was identified in March and now is the dominant strain. As a result, the White House announced it has decided to maintain existing Covid travel restrictions amid surging cases triggered by the new variant, which is expected to cause a Covid spike in 4 to 6 weeks. 

Before the Delta variant surge, benefits decision-makers were grappling with the impact of Covid-19 as the race continues to get all Americans fully vaccinated. In this maelstrom of questions involving the emergence of variants, especially the Delta variant, the need for booster injections and the incidence of infection even among those who have been vaccinated. CDC experts advise that, while vaccine breakthrough cases are expected, the Covid-19 vaccines work well on the variants and can keep the virus in check. However, their efficacy rate isn’t 100% and a small percentage of fully vaccinated people will get sick, be hospitalized or die from Covid-19. 

Based on the CDC’s Covid Data Tracker, more than 158 million people in the United States have been fully vaccinated as of July 2021, but many people still have not been vaccinated for various reasons. Like with other vaccines, vaccine breakthrough cases will occur, even though the vaccines are working as expected. Asymptomatic infections among vaccinated people will also occur.  

The Need for At-Home Testing 

After a long year of lockdowns, businesses have suffered deep financial losses and the major push is on to get employees back to work as the Delta variant surges. However, a return-to-work requires strong assurances of health and safety, which has led to a massive need for at-home or onsite self-testing. 
 
A recent survey found that 83% of employers said they wanted to supply these tests to their employees once a week to once a month to keep infection rates low and help them safely return to work as businesses re-open. Employers said they are interested in tests for employees who have either been exposed or contracted Covid. The survey found that many employers were willing to pay a portion of the test fees and 90% of consumers said they were willing to take these tests to go back to work. 
 
According to the CDC, people can be around others if they think or know they had Covid-19 but have been without symptoms for 10 days and without fever for 24 hours, without the use of fever-reducing medications. 
 
The CDC has also offered interim guidance for employers to incorporate Covid-19 testing in non-healthcare workplaces that includes descriptions of different Covid tests, scenarios where Covid testing can be used, considerations for screening asymptomatic workers and the use of serial antigen testing.  

Support for At-Home and In-Office Testing

With the CDC, officials in North Carolina and Tennessee are conducting a program to see if the spread of Covid-19 will be reduced if people are given quick access to at-home self-tests. 
  
The Biden administration recently unveiled a $1.6 billion plan to get more of these tests in schools and other settings but there aren’t enough tests available yet. These tests are needed now and can also offer more constant, reliable, lower-cost disease surveillance in the future.   

Choosing the Right Solution to Help Employees Safely Return-to-Work  

There are many rapid Covid-19 testing solutions available to the employer community but not all solutions are the same. Some of the best solutions are the dozen comprehensive employer testing platforms for Covid-19 chosen from a field of hundreds of companies to collaborate directly with the US Department of Health and Human Services and the FDA during the pandemic.  
 
The new tests support employers with key decision-making and OSHA requirements for employees’ safe return-to-work as well as crucial meetings, events and convention safety. They are authorized to capture the required federal and state-required standardized data from patients through an intuitive, simple service. 
 
These real-time test results are available to authorized stakeholders, oversight from nationwide physicians, unique, customized employer dashboards and tools available to make a reopening strategy easy. Proprietary software makes the full beginning-to-end testing journey simple, safe, customized and compliant. 
 
Now more than ever, employers will need the right at-home or in-office testing solution to provide their employees with the necessary tools for a safe return-to-work this fall, as the Delta variant rages across the U.S. 

Michael Gorton is the CEO and Founder of Recuro Health, and Founding CEO and Chairman of Teladoc. Visit https://recurohealth.com/ Connect Michael Gorton Follow @RecuroHealth