Taking Covid tests

[polly_mer]

My employer has random covid testing (a lottery of all employees daily akin to random drug testing).  My number came up for tomorrow with the claim that they are doing ten tests every hour with a couple day turnaround.  We are to expect an email for negative and a phone call with discussion for positive.

What are other people's experiences with employment-related covid testing as we zoom into fall?

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Sorry for laughing out loud after reading that. I highly doubt that my employer will do anything like this.

[Morden]

No employer testing, but I am getting tested every time I get a cold. I have elderly parents.

[Puget]

Once the fall semester starts, the plan is that everyone on campus will be tested twice a week with an anterior nasal swab (not the kind the verges on a frontal lobotomy), with a 24 hour or less turn around time. Testing is being done locally through a neighboring university med school center, not with commercial tests (so faster and much less expensive) and may be done at least partially in-house once FDA approval comes through.

[secundem_artem]

My employer has random covid testing (a lottery of all employees daily akin to random drug testing).  My number came up for tomorrow with the claim that they are doing ten tests every hour with a couple day turnaround.  We are to expect an email for negative and a phone call with discussion for positive.

What are other people's experiences with employment-related covid testing as we zoom into fall?

Antibody screening or PCR for diagnostic purposes?

I see Artem U doing this just as soon as Trump falls to his knees and confesses all his sins and transgressions on the steps of the National Cathedral.

[mamselle]

Nah, it's Anglican.

I think he's  (well, maybe) learned his lesson about Episcopalians....

M.

[Liquidambar]

My university said there are some legal issues with doing random testing on employees, so they plan to do random testing on students instead.

[nescafe]

No testing here, that I know of. We will receive some kind of email surveys to fill out at intervals. And perhaps temperature monitoring (but again, no details about when/how that will happen).

Our campus has all but declared that almost all of our courses will be remote. In my dept, no one is allowed to actually teach on campus (the classrooms are being reserved for lab courses, etc). Students are going back, though.

[Sun_Worshiper]

We're supposed to have testing available for all employees, but as far as I know it is on a voluntary basis.  Not sure about students.

[sinenomine]

I'm hearing that my university plans on testing everyone, and doing temperature checks as each person arrives on campus every day. I was wondering if there were privacy/HIPAA concerns. I also suspect they won't be able to pull this off, logistically or financially.

[polly_mer]

My employer has random covid testing (a lottery of all employees daily akin to random drug testing).  My number came up for tomorrow with the claim that they are doing ten tests every hour with a couple day turnaround.  We are to expect an email for negative and a phone call with discussion for positive.

What are other people's experiences with employment-related covid testing as we zoom into fall?

Antibody screening or PCR for diagnostic purposes?

Unclear.  It could be either since we're doing modeling for many entities including the county and we're also trying to stay open with people on campus, but the number of cases has more than doubled in the past few days.

I show up at the given place at the given time and follow instructions if I still want to have a job.

[kaysixteen]

IOW, you'll get fired if you refuse to take the test?  How does your libertarian ethos handle that, especially given the 'random lottery' nature of the test, rather than requiring it of all staff?

As to unis requiring students to take such tests, I wonder how many of them will submit to them, esp. after an initial test given to students on their return to campus?   Indeed, I am deeply pessimistic regarding the likelihood that campus reopening plans containing significant lifestyle restrictions on students will meet with widespread postadolescent compliance, or that, ultimately, unis will try to do much to enforce such compliance.

[Caracal]

I'm hearing that my university plans on testing everyone, and doing temperature checks as each person arrives on campus every day. I was wondering if there were privacy/HIPAA concerns. I also suspect they won't be able to pull this off, logistically or financially.

There's been a lot of talk about batch testing as a cheap and effective alternative. The problem is that it only works if positivity in the student population is relatively low and if you the ability to get results quickly.

[Caracal]

As to unis requiring students to take such tests, I wonder how many of them will submit to them, esp. after an initial test given to students on their return to campus?   Indeed, I am deeply pessimistic regarding the likelihood that campus reopening plans containing significant lifestyle restrictions on students will meet with widespread postadolescent compliance, or that, ultimately, unis will try to do much to enforce such compliance.

I think you're overestimating the tendency of people to actually defy regulations when they are clear and enforceable. I think the trick would be making continued enrollment dependent on keeping up with the tests and making it as easy to do as possible. I'd also want to see structures that didn't make instructors the main enforcers of the system. If you had a system that built in a couple of days leeway around the deadline that would be good too. Student gets a email and text message that they need to go do the test. If they don't do it, they get another one the next day, and a note shows up for their teachers for two days that says to remind them they won't be able to attend classes after that date without a test. If they are in campus housing, RA goes and tries to find them etc.  After that, they get suspended from enrollment until they do it

As an instructor, then I'm in the position of being the guy who gives them the friendly reminder about this administrative requirement rather than being the heavy. It would be even better if they put a few testing stations around campus and it could become a thing you just do on your way to and from class. Of course, the problem is that all this takes money...

[polly_mer]

IOW, you'll get fired if you refuse to take the test?  How does your libertarian ethos handle that, especially given the 'random lottery' nature of the test, rather than requiring it of all staff?

At this moment, I'm not going to explain how real libertarianism differs from stupid assertions by blowhards regarding libertarianism.  I'll leave it at anarchists believe in no rules; libertarians tend to ask the purpose of the rules and want to discuss the trade-offs.

Personally, I already evaluated the known trade-offs in this particular job between restricted personal, civilian activities and the value to the common good by accepting the trade-offs.  Adding this random test on top of the other trade-offs is no biggie compared to other trade-offs already made.  We take safety seriously and this is minor compared to other trade-offs.

Under the new rules, I can be fired for being onsite outside of the schedule put in place for attendance.

I can be fired for working onsite on non-approved tasks, because time onsite was approved as being worth the risk for specific tasks that cannot be done at home and are a matter of national import on strict deadlines.  There is no penalty for contacting management to skip a day onsite when there aren't enough tasks to justify going in or when one has any of the listed symptoms.

I can also be fired for not wearing a mask onsite or by getting a big enough fine for not following the state regulations currently in effect.

I can be fired for not following the current sanitation protocols currently in effect including following the process for pre-meeting and post-meeting sanitizing a room.

I can be fired for not following social distancing guidelines and not following the additional processes in place for when six feet of space cannot be maintained for necessary work.

I can be fired for having/attending an in-person meeting that is too large (greater than 3 people) without the required permissions and safety plan in place with at least one premeeting telecon to review the safety plan.

In addition, there's no penalty for positive/negative results on this particular test, unlike most of the other tests that come up regularly in this job.  People who come back positive get adequate paid sick leave to stay home if unable to work.  Those who can work from home are given permission to do so.  The daily newsletter is filled with reports of people who are working from home taking courses, catching up on relevant reading, and other activities because their normal jobs can't be done at home.

Even with all those precautions, serious penalties for violating precautions, and a current default of work from home for nearly all employees, the number of cases is rising.

Knowing all that is why I'm quite certain fall on higher ed campuses is unlikely to go well with people who aren't great with obeying every safety rule every time.