Smart Businesses Test | Plan, Prepare, Respond

It is imperative that we responsibly restore the economy while working to flatten the Covid-19 infection curve. 

That means in many situations getting back to the office. An undefined number of people already have the anti-bodies from surviving Covid-19. Your business needs to know who they are. Each business will have its own reason why. But, they all have multiple positive healthy reasons to test for anti-bodies.

Businesses should be the leaders in flattening the curve. The most widely articulated solution to “flatten the curve” is to establish nearly ubiquitous testing and success at developing treatments and vaccines for Covid-19. Ubiquitous testing would be difficult to achieve across the U.S., but it can be achieved within your business and within your third party vendors. It takes leadership and a source.

“It’s less a question of if testing becomes part of workplace strategies, than when and what will prompt that”, says Rajaie Batniji, Chief Health Officer at Collective Health. "Measures like temperature checks may even do more harm than good by giving workers and employers a false sense of confidence", he says.

As you are developing your Return to the Workplace Safety plan you should consider Covid-19 testing for your employees. While nasal swab testing is readily available for front-line workers, those at highest risk and those exhibiting symptoms, we are seeing a growing demand for Covid-19 Rapid Response tests (10 minutes for results). Antibody testing is for everyone. It builds confidence for individuals and establishes that leadership is looking out for the business.

DUOLARK is here to help.

Antibody tests (blood tests) will determine if a person has had the virus in the past. The viral test (nasal swab) determines only if the person currently has the virus. Currently science does not know if the presence of anti-bodies provides immunity or not. Science may have some solid proof soon. Initial testing shows that it does. More testing is required. If it does, then by testing now you will know which of your employees have some immunity or a lesser chance of re-infection.

What is known is that anti-bodies do help the body fight the infection and are specific to the virus that causes Covid-19. Antibodies can last for a long time in the body which makes them ideal for identifying whether someone had once contracted the virus and if their body fought it off successfully – even if it was weeks ago.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told the Doctor Mike YouTube show that they’ll have “some degree of durable immunity” possibly for a few years.

The value of everyone knowing that one another has been tested and that they are not actively sick, or that they can be designated as having antibodies, is as smart as it is reassuring.

It may also allow managers to know who may have immunity and can work in closer quarters, when necessary. This ensures that they are creating the best practices for others to follow.