RE: Loafofbread advfn25 May 2020 14:32
"It goes exactly against the professional training all of us have had" to respect employee privacy, said Ryan Whitlock, Tiger Fuel's human-resources director, adding that health questions once deemed too intrusive are now necessary for workplace safety.
UnitedHealth and Microsoft Corp. jointly developed an app that checks worker symptoms and gives a go-ahead to report to work. The app, which Microsoft has said it plans to deploy for its U.S. workforce, tracks individuals' health and orders testing if warranted.
UnitedHealth, which has implemented the app with some of its employees, is now mailing at-home test kits to its nurses as they resume making house calls so that they can take tests if the app suggests they do so.
The moves toward testing span industries. Walmart Inc. Chief Executive Doug McMillon has said the retailer is pursuing testing for its employees, including tests that detect whether a person has been exposed to the virus.
Ford is one of several auto makers that has joined with medical centers to provide testing for symptomatic workers.
Many companies say the ideal would be rapid-result testing that could give employees an all-clear before entering work each day. Diagnostic-testing companies Abbott Laboratories and Cepheid both have machines that can deliver test results in 45 minutes or less, but they are primarily selling those devices to the health-care system.
Businesses and sports leagues have contacted those companies about accessing their systems, though the Food and Drug Administration instructed testing executives on an April call to prioritize health-care organizations, a person on the call said. After health care, the agency urged companies to focus on food-industry workers.
Regulators recently approved a different rapid diagnostic test -- one that detects parts of proteins on the virus -- that returns results in 15 minutes. The maker of the test, Quidel Corp., has already heard from Hollywood studios, a pro-wrestling league, and other businesses interested in using the test, Chief Executive Douglas Bryant said.
Life-sciences technology company 10x Genomics Inc. has been administering weekly Covid-19 diagnostic tests for about 180 research, manufacturing and other employees. Employees report to a tent at its Pleasanton, Calif., offices to be swabbed; they self-report results, which arrive two to three days later.
Testing is voluntary, said co-founder Ben Hindson, and the few employees who have declined aren't allowed to enter the office but can work remotely.
No employees have tested positive yet, but Mr. Hindson said the $200 tests are worth the price, adding that he plans to continue testing until a vaccine is available.
"When you think about it in the grand scheme of things, the benefit far outweighs that few hundred dollars by a huge factor," he said.
Hannah Yuan was one of the earliest 10x Genomics employees to be tested. The senior director of manufacturing said she was anxio
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