The pandemic has affected all aspects of our lives, including employment. Thermo Fisher Scientific recognizes the severity of the consequences for both employers and employees as we navigate through these unprecedented times. That’s why we’re a founding member of WE ACT, an alliance of leading employers and scientific organizations that works with public officials to increase access to COVID-19 testing.
As employees transition back into the physical workplace, employers are grappling with so many questions pertaining to safety and health for both their employees and their communities. We’re helping by supplying labs with the testing technology needed to help make COVID-19 testing a back-to-work solution.
We’re also providing information to employers about the best practices for implementing testing programs. On this page, we’ll discuss practical strategies for return-to-work COVID-19 testing.
Blog: Four ways companies can make the workplace safer from the SARS-CoV-2 virus
Getting employees back to work safely with testing
Asymptomatic testing helps mitigate transmission in the workplace by identifying infected individuals who may not be showing symptoms, so that proactive steps can be taken before the virus spreads throughout the workplace and community. As vaccines become available, they may protect individuals from severe disease, but there is not yet clear evidence that they will prevent vaccinated people from being infected and transmitting the virus, so testing will remain vitally important.
Blog: Preventing “Silent Spread”: Why Asymptomatic Testing is Crucial During Vaccine Rollout
Program Startup: testing labs and full-service lab providers
Implement a fully functional and competent testing program in your workplace with the help of a certified, experienced testing lab. Thermo Fisher Scientific can help you connect with a full-service lab provider. More than just a lab, it can coordinate all parts of the testing process: sample collection, running the tests, and sending results to the people being tested.
Understanding your options around testing technologies
As a first step, you’ll need to understand the testing technologies available and how to evaluate them. Each technology has its strengths, weaknesses, and trade-offs that may make it a better fit as a testing program for your workplace. These include:
- Test accuracy and sensitivity
- Sample types, sample collection methods, and sample receiving
- Time to results (speed, throughput, and scalability)
- Footprint of sampling and testing workspaces, and required materials
- Total cost
- Testing frequency
Beyond the testing technology, you’ll also need to understand and evaluate reporting speed, the isolation and quarantine of infected individuals, and thorough contract tracing.
It’s a lot to process, but we’ve gathered this information in our comprehensive, easy-to-follow Guide to Asymptomatic Population Testing.
Helping keep your people safe: A guide to asymptomatic population testing options for SARS-CoV-2
For all kinds of businesses, asymptomatic testing can be a key strategy to help reduce the spread of the virus while also allowing you to return to something closer to normal. This guide can help you understand and evaluate the workplace testing options available to your organization.
Understanding the differences between two of the leading testing technologies
PCR and RADT are two testing technologies used to detect COVID-19. It’s important to understand what they each do best and how their attributes fit your testing scenario. Here is a helpful infographic that summarizes their differences.
Infographic: Tools for Testing: PCR vs RADT
Thermo Fisher Scientific is available to help
We are leaders in COVID-19 testing, supporting labs around the world with highly effective testing technology. We’re also connecting employers with qualified service providers to get you up and running with a workplace testing program. Our efforts are intended to help you provide a sense of security and safety for employees so that you can reactivate and reinvigorate your business and productivity.