January 25, 2022
Know Before You Say, “No” – A COVID-19 Testing Tip
If you are like many employers, you may have a policy that prohibits an employee from working on site if the employee tests positive for COVID-19. You might also impose some other requirements upon that employee such as wearing a face covering when they return to work after five (or ten) days, maintaining physical distancing, and/or submitting to testing. But do you know a positive test result when you see one?
The CDC reports that the coronavirus and its various forms have been around since the 1960’s. Two years ago, in February 2020, the CDC posted on its website a list of various coronavirus strains. So, if an employee provides a test result that reads positive for Coronavirus 229E, NL63, OC43, or HKU1, pause before you tell the employee, “No,” you cannot come into work.
The CDC explains that these are more like “the common cold” and “should not be confused with Coronavirus disease 2019 (formerly referred to as the 2019 novel coronavirus” or SARS-CoV-2.
