Vida Care says mandatory PCR testing could speed up the phased return to office working.
Irish health screening company Vida Care has announced it will be offering "gold standard" two-hour PCR tests to employers ahead of workers' expected to return to offices next month.
Later today (Tuesday, 31 August), Cabinet is meeting to consider proposals regarding the easing of remaining Covid-19 restrictions in Ireland.
Multiple reports have suggested the Government is hoping to end almost all Covid-19 restrictions by 22 October with the phased return of workers to offices expected to take place on 20 September.
According to Vida Care, some employers are looking to introduce mandatory PCR testing to speed up the phased return of office working.
“Employers have given up waiting on the Government to solve the problem of how to manage the safe return to offices when the law prevents them from asking their employees about their vaccination status,” said CEO of Vida Care Conor Kelly.
“The only way to prevent unvaccinated staff spreading Covid-19 when offices reopen is to introduce mandatory PCR testing. We can test an employee and provide a result within two hours and the demand for this service has sky-rocketed."
In a statement, Vida Care said it has conducted 20,000 PCR tests to date and is currently carrying them out across the pharmaceutical, food, meat and dairy sectors, as well as providing private PCR testing to schools and airlines.
“Employers are getting on with the task of managing the return to the office in the face of a legal impediment. They have lost confidence in the Government’s ability to overcome that challenge having witnessed how its roadmap has failed the hospitality sector and live events industry,” said Kelly.
“Employers are also unwilling to fully rely upon the success of the national vaccination programme to protect their workforce. They recognise that it is possible for employees to be vaccinated, to be asymptomatic and to transmit the virus. They want an added layer of security.
Kelly said the PCR test is "more reliable and accurate" than rapid antigen testing and while it used to take 24 hours to obtain a PCR test result, Vida Care have reduced that to two hours.
"This is a game-changer for employers and for anyone who needs a test for Covid-19. It makes PCR testing as convenient as rapid antigen testing," the CEO stated.
