Returning your employees to the workplace after recent lockdowns and isolations is a challenge. Screening and surveillance can reassure staff that they are safe at work. A comprehensive testing program is essential for businesses where:
Screening and Surveillance Programs
COVID-19 Screening and Surveillance Programs
• Your team has to work closely together or in confined spaces.
• There is plenty of travel involved in your work.
• Face-to-face working, collaboration and meetings are essential.
• Employees are in customer-facing roles with public contact.
Nexsun Labs can work with you to reassure your employees and provide comprehensive testing programs convenient to administer at home or in the workplace as part of ensuring your workplace is COVID-19 safe.
What Are Screening and Surveillance Programs?
Screening and surveillance programs use COVID-19 testing to understand the rate and spread of coronavirus in a school, medical facility, business, or broader community.
Diagnostic Testing
Diagnostic testing is for individuals to confirm if they have COVID-19.
Diagnostic testing is recommended for:
• People showing symptoms.
• Close contact with people with symptoms.
• Close contacts of people testing positive.
Regardless of vaccination status, diagnostic testing always applies when symptoms are present.
Screening and Surveillance
COVID-19 testing can involve individual testing or group pool techniques in geographies where positive rates are low. COVID-19 testing to screen masses of people in the workplace, education, social care, prisons, or medical settings helps with:
• Reassurance that the workplace is free from COVID-19.
• Early indications of a potential issue of infection.
• Speed of processing many tests with more rapid clearance.
Different Types of Screening Tests?
The type of screening necessary in your workplace depends on your risk factors to set the frequency and nature of the screening.
Post-Exposure Testing
Post-exposure testing is for non-vaccinated individuals exposed to someone who tests positive or displays symptoms. These individuals should be tested 3-5 days after exposure and, if negative, test another 5-7 days later.
Response Testing
Response testing is for high-risk workplaces – all individuals (vaccinated or not) are tested after a confirmed case in the workplace. Fully vaccinated staff don’t need to quarantine.
Response Testing for Outbreaks
An outbreak is classified as a specific number of COVID infections.
• If there are three or more cases, it is suggested you test once a week.
• However, if there are 20 or more cases, increase testing to twice
a week.
Pre-Entry Testing
Pre-entry testing is suggested before someone enters an event, competition, business, or anywhere there is risk of infection in a large public setting.
• Vaccinated people don’t need pre-entry testing.
• No one with symptoms is permitted entry – even if the test is negative.
• A molecular test within 72 hours of the event is adequate proof of
status.
• After the event, testing (5-7 days later) is recommended but not
mandatory.
COVID-19 Pooling and Pod Testing
Pooling involves combining the same type of specimen from several individuals and running one test on the pooled sample.
Pros
• Uses fewer resources
• Faster results for a group
• More affordable
Cons
• Individual specimens may be below diagnostic adequacy
• Dilution may put the genetic material below the detection level
• Larger pools increase the possibility of a false negative
A pod or cohort is a recognized group of individuals who are routinely in contact with each other – school class or working team. It is possible to identify pods in the workplace and pool test these to clear a whole pod. If a pool test is negative, all individuals have a negative result. A positive test involves diagnostic testing for everyone in the pool or pod.
How Do Screening and Surveillance Strategies Work?
The first step in implementing a successful screening and surveillance strategy is to establish potential risks. The risk of infection for an individual varies, but from a business perspective, you can categorize the workplace as a low, medium, or high risk and adapt the screening strategy to the most appropriate level of testing.
Nexsun Labs can help you choose the applicable screening and surveillance tests for accuracy, speed, and affordability. We supply all the testing kits you need and a rapid turnaround.
We offer a walk-in service for local businesses where individuals can save time by booking an appointment for an in-person test. This service is ideal if an employee suspects they have been exposed to COVID-19 and wants rapid clearance for work.
California Public Health Testing Guidance
California Public health guidance, in line with other states, suggests a focus on testing:
• High-risk populations.
• Non-vaccinated individuals.
If you are vaccinated and not in a health care setting, you don’t need a screening test. But if you display symptoms, you still need a diagnostic test.
Unvaccinated individuals need a screening test before higher risk events:
• Large private events
• Live performance events
• Sporting events
• Theme parks
• Competing in close contact sports
• Crowded events or stadiums
Working in health care requires frequent testing of staff, residents, and patients depending on the health care setting and the extent of vaccination. At herd immunity, reduced screening testing is possible.
Weekly screening, using molecular tests, with a turnaround of less than two days is an ideal way to stay on top of your workplace. Nexsun Labs has the capacity and qualified staff to advise and implement an effective workplace screening regime.
Why Partner With Nexsun for Screening and Surveillance?
Nexsun Labs can work to provide you with the best testing solutions for your environment.
We provide you with:
• Testing kits and appropriate paperwork and instructions.
• Options for less invasive tests and pool testing.
• Rapid turnaround of results with secure reporting.
Nexsun Diagnostic Labs also provides a secure web portal for rapidly reporting results in the most effective format for your workplace.
Regular workplace testing is part of the ongoing management of COVID-19. Partnering with a dedicated testing lab like Nexsun means you get consistent, accurate testing of your employees at an affordable price.
