Covid testing or screening at a workplace should not be treated as a symptomatic response, but more as one part of a bigger strategy to prevent and control the spread of covid-19. Although periodic testing may seem unnecessary or even impractical to many, the facts are in direct contradiction with that thought process. If you are in a position of management or ownership, then you may mind those facts to be quite compelling.
Testing for Covid is Now a Minimally Invasive Process
Periodic screening for covid is possible and acceptable in any setting now because the molecular PCR/RNA test is a non-invasive process. No bloodwork is necessary as the swab test is actually more sensitive in detecting covid infections than a serology test (blood testing for antibodies).
What has made modern PCR tests more acceptable for most people is that it is no longer necessary to collect mucous samples from the nose. Instead, oral swabs are just as effective, while not being anywhere near as unpleasant a nasopharyngeal swab test.
Antigen Tests Provide a Cheaper Solution for Asymptomatic Testing
PCR tests can be costly to implement as a regular screening process, but they are necessary for properly verifying/negating a potential covid infection. However, the antigen test can be a cheap, effective solution for regular screening. While they are not as effective in detecting active covid infections as the standard RNA test, they can still be used to test for infections periodically, even when the employee is not showing any symptoms.
HIPAA Compliant Digital Platforms Have Made Regular Screening a Seamless Process
Compliance with the mandatory, constantly amended regulations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a complicated process all by itself. However, complications reached all new heights post-covid. Maintaining HIPAA standards that are in place to protect the privacy of an employee’s test results, while also ensuring safety protocols against covid was not easy, if at all possible.
However, digital platforms like Snap Healthcare have solved that problem by integrating periodic covid testing with HIPAA compliant, automated reporting. These platforms are designed to unify, implement, inform, test, and report all things related to covid prevention on behalf of the client company, without letting any of the implemented steps violate HIPAA regulations.
Importance of Interim Testing: Why It Can Be the Only Way to Prevent Covid Infections
SARS-CoV-2 is a virus like nothing else that the world has seen so far, making it nearly impossible to develop a reliable vaccine against its numerous strains right now. The good news is that a fully vaccinated employee is much less likely to catch or develop serious complications that often follow a covid infection. The bad news is that none of the vaccines are as effective at preventing the infection as they should be.
Unfortunately, the very fact that a vaccinated employee is much less susceptible to the serious affectations of covid can work against prevention efforts. Unless there is an interim testing procedure in place, some of the vaccinated employees might be asymptomatic and unaware of the fact that they are now carriers of the virus. Covid may not be able to affect them in any significant manner, but that will not stop them from spreading the virus. The scary thing is that the more it is allowed to spread, the faster it will mutate into the next form.