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As we approach the holiday season, what the last two years have taught us is it’s best to exercise a certain degree of trepidation. The pandemic might appear to be fading into the background, but, with cases rising in parts of the world and experts warning of an impending ‘tripledemic’—compounded by businesses seeing the sharpest rise in workforce shortages due to long-term sickness—it’s clear that COVID-19 is still affecting lives.
The good news is that workplace covid testing offers employees a reliable way to reassure and protect staff and keep workplaces safe as we trek into the New Year.
Last December the world saw a huge spike in the number of COVID-19 infections casting a pall over the holiday season. The quickly spreading Omicron variant prompted renewed restrictions on gatherings and travel, threating another gloomy repeat of 2020.
A year later the pandemic does not loom quite so large over our lives but it’s devastating impacts are far from over.
Cases rising in parts of the world
In China's capital of Beijing, cases have this month hit a record high with measures such as mass testing resuming. In Europe, reports show similar trends such as in Italy and France, where health officials recently warned of a new COVID wave. In Australia, cases have increased by almost 70% from only two weeks ago.[1]
Researchers have already warned of growing evidence that we’ll experience a surge in cases this winter, as immunity begins to wane and new Omicron subvariants that can better evade immunity are detected in more countries around the world.
With flu season returning, there is an ever-increasing need to make sure the right preventative measures are in place to protect lives and keep businesses going.
This is doubly important at a time when long-term health issues are already adding to existing strains on workforce shortages.
Long-term sickness at record high
New data shows long COVID has forced 4 million people out of work in the US. The picture is not much improved in the UK, with the workforce suffering from the steepest increase in shortages due to long-term sickness since the pandemic struck.
Record sickness levels means the situation for businesses remains precarious.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the number of people who have fallen out of the workforce because of long-term sickness has risen to 2.5 million in the last 3 years; an extra 363,000 people have been forced to take time off work since the pandemic. The largest increases are seen in young people, while industries such as wholesale and retail, hospitality and healthcare, are struggling the most with the health of their workforce.
In addition, waiting list backlogs are worsening access to prompt treatment and a worrying quarter of UK employers have identified long COVID as a major cause of long-term sickness absence among their staff.[2]
At the beginning of 2022, ONS figures show that 1.3 million people were reporting persistent symptoms of long COVID, and nearly a quarter of a million of them said their ability to carry out day-to-day activities had been "limited a lot". While the pandemic might appear to be fading into the background, this highlights that its long-term impact on the labour market is still being felt sharply – and there is a risk this could worsen into winter, making measures such as regular testing all the more important.
Experts warn of ‘tripledemic’
We’re all familiar with winter posing an increased risk for transmission of respiratory viruses and infection.
But experts are now warning of a ’Tripledemic’ as cases of both flu and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) rise along with COVID. These cases are surging nationwide in the US, with health officials recently declaring that the country has crossed the “epidemic threshold” with influenza.
Cases of RSV have risen among children, in particular. While RSV is not new, experts say the rise is happening at significantly higher rates than previously experienced, and hospitals are being overwhelmed.
In the UK, the latest figures from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) show that nearly one third of under-fives currently have RSV, and there are ongoing concerns about these cases continuing to increase while flu hits in full force and COVID-19 remains a threat to lives.
Parents and childcare centres are all feeling the effects. In October, a record number of American employees missed work to look after their children due to the sharp rise in infections[3]. Childcare centres have also been forced to shut down due to staff shortages.
Why invest in your employees’ health
Viruses and infection spread quickly in workplaces. With cases on the rise again, and the threat of a tripledemic, there is impetus for employers to ensure their workplaces are safe for staff.
Only a few months ago, the rapid spread of COVID-19 sent the number of workers taking sick leave soaring, exacerbating ongoing staff shortages and absences due to long COVID. Everywhere, from the hospitality to the education sectors to hospitals, reeled from the effects.
What COVID-19 has brought into sharp focus is that employee wellness is not a bonus but a business imperative. And, investing in your employees’ health pays off. In fact, studies show that investing in employee wellness leads to a reduction in lost workdays and presenteeism (lower productivity due to stress or illness).[4] Putting in the right health and safety measures can reduce the likelihood that employees will a) become ill; and b) need to take time off.
This is even more important in our new normal.
The case for rapid tests (lateral flow tests) …
While methods such as temperature screening are popular, they’re limited in their ability to detect COVID-19 in individuals who are asymptomatic (without noticeable symptoms) or have mild symptoms. And, there is little scientific evidence supporting their use as a reliable detection method.[5]
Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs), on the other hand, help determine if someone is infected regardless of whether they have symptoms and, when coupled with appropriate isolation measure, can effectively limit the spread of infection to others.
RAT tests provide results in minutes and have been shown to be useful for detecting infection in asymptomatic people. In addition, 2San’s ‘Scan and Protect’ app offers a unique and effective way for employers to use real-time infection data to better manage business continuity and the spread of infection in their workforce.
The appetite to turn back the clock to the measures of 2020 remains, justifiably, very low, but infection rates remain high. Testing can, therefore, provide a reassuringly reliable way for employers to better exercise duty of care through this challenging time.
References
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/australia-covid-cases.html
[2] https://www.ft.com/content/33444f29-bab1-4655-85b5-c0b1f68d9653
[3] https://www.businessinsider.in/policy/economy/news/a-record-number-of-parents-are-missing-work-due-to-a-trifecta-of-kids-sick-with-covid-flu-and-rsv-it-leaves-them-vulnerable-as-a-possible-recession-looms-/articleshow/95540886.cms
[4] https://hbr.org/2010/12/whats-the-hard-return-on-employee-wellness-programs
[5] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/dont-rely-on-temperature-screening-products-for-detection-of-coronavirus-covid-19-says-mhra#:~:text=There%20is%20little%20scientific%20evidence,rather%20than%20core%20body%20temperature.
