It’s no secret that COVID-19 has changed the way many Americans work. Over the past year, millions of employees were either laid off or furloughed, while countless millions of others transitioned to working from home full time.
As many employees slowly begin to return to work – and companies start hiring again – it’s a smart idea to implement COVID-19 testing to ensure these employees and candidates do not enter the workspace sick, as that can potentially spread the virus to other employees.
Founded in 1979, Barada Associates is extremely proud of the reputation we’ve built over the past several decades. As one of the nation’s first employment screening businesses, we offer a full range of background checking services, including academic, criminal, reference, drug testing cognitive testing and employment verification. Most recently, we started providing companies with COVID-19 antigen/virus testing to help employees start to return to work.
If you’re interested in learning more about our employment screening background checks, or want to talk to an associate about COVID-19 testing, contact the background screening professionals at Barada Associates today.
Why Test Employees for COVID-19?
As we’ve seen since the beginning of the virus, it can spread like wildfire. If one person contracts the virus in a workplace, it’s likely that almost everyone that came in contact with that individual will test positive on a COVID screening as well. With the virus spreading so fast and causing dangerous symptoms in many that contract the virus, it’s important that employers take COVID-19 seriously and make screening available for every employee.
It’s important that every employee under your guidance be comfortable in their workplace. Making virus screening available for every employee will help them feel safer in returning to the workplace. Employers may even allow employees to choose whether they want to continue to work from home or come back to the office. Having COVID screening available for every employee will increase their willingness to return to the physical office, as they feel that they are more protected from the virus.
Many employers have stated that the use of testing and screening can help reduce the transmission of COVID-19, which in effect would decrease the fears employees have around catching the virus. Other employers and business leaders say testing is a great addition to a larger-scale plan of protecting employees from COVID-19. Other practices can also be implemented as part of an overall COVID-19-protection plan, including requiring employees to wear face masks, gloves and practicing proper social distancing protocols.
‘“Regular testing on a global scale, across all industries, would both help keep people safe and help get the economy back up and running,” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos wrote in a recent shareholder letter.
In April 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor approved conducting COVID-19 viral testing in the workplace, including work-site temperature checks. Be sure to check if there are state or local CDC guidance restricting testing.
COVID-19 Antigen/Virus Test
Barada Associate’s COVID-19 testing service is a lab-based, saliva test for the active virus. This is a valuable service that provides employees with peace of mind by ensuring employees are in good health before entering the office.
The entire process is quick and simple. When you contact Barada Associates about workplace testing, we’ll create a COVID-19 account for your company and order the specified number of kits. Those kits will then be mailed to the employer’s address.
The applicant “spits” in the collection device (we’ll provide detailed instructions) and drops the package off to a local FedEx office. The lab tests the specimen within 24 to 48 hours, and the applicant and employer both get a copy of the results. It won’t take up to 14 days like it does with some of the other COVID-19 test providers.
- Price: $175 per test kit
- Shipping: $20 per outbound shipping address
- Turnaround: 24 to 48 hours once the lab receives the samples
What to Do About Positive COVID-19 Tests
Any employees that exhibit potential symptoms of the virus, such as a fever, sore throat or a dry cough, must be tested immediately and sent home to quarantine if they were at the office. If they came in contact with other employees throughout the day, it’s critical that everybody that came in contact with the individual performs a COVID-19 screening. Before anybody involved is allowed to return to work, they should be quarantined and test negative for the virus.
In the unfortunate event that one of your employees tests positive for the virus, it’s critical that they continue to work from home or just stay home for at least 14 days before they return to work. They must be quarantined from other employees long enough to not pass the virus around the workplace.
Many people who test positive for the virus report having no symptoms at all. Because of this, it’s critical to rely on the use of testing and screening before allowing any employees to return to work. An employee that had the virus may report that they are feeling fine and do not have any symptoms. However, until they record a negative test result, they should remain quarantined at home.
Contact Barada Associates for COVID-19 Testing
During these unprecedented times, it’s important to keep employees, customers and society as a whole as safe as possible. Barada Associates is proud to offer COVID-19 as an extra layer of protection against fighting and spreading the disease. For more information on how the use of screening benefits both employees and employers, contact Barada Associates today.