The Government published new guidance on 7th February in respect of workplace Covid-19 testing which is now to be offered to more companies in England where staff cannot work from home during lockdown.
Employers with more than 50 employees are now able to access lateral flow tests, which can produce results in less than 30 minutes. This is a change to the provision which previously permitted only those firms with more than 250 staff to qualify for workplace Covid-19 testing.
The expansion of Covid-19 workplace testing is designed to detect the virus in employees who are not showing symptoms and to encourage more organisations in the private and public sectors, from transport networks to food manufacturers, to take up the offer of rapid workplace testing. Many organisations have already taken up the offer of rapid workplace testing, with 112 UK employers across almost 500 sites having already signed up.
Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, urged businesses and employees to take up the offer, commenting:
“To save lives and protect the NHS, we have again asked for everyone to work from home. But we know that for some this is not possible, which is why the workplace rapid testing programme is so important.
“Employers should regularly test their staff, and this drive across government to raise awareness and encourage more businesses to introduce rapid testing for employees is incredibly important. When you consider that around one in three people have the virus without symptoms and could potentially infect people without even knowing it, it becomes clear why focusing testing on those without symptoms is so essential.
“We are already working with many employers to scale up workforce testing, spanning the food industry, retail sector, transport network, and across the public sector too. I strongly urge businesses and employees across the country to take up this offer of rapid testing to help stop this virus spreading further.”
The extension of the availability of this service will no doubt provide further comfort and assurances to employers, allowing them to identify and deal with cases of Covid-19 in the workplace promptly and efficiently.
The Government said the wider criteria would “hugely” increase the number of different businesses that are able to sign up, with small and medium sized companies now able to take part.
A website has been launched for more businesses to register for the rapid testing programme.
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