This is a strategic tool that will provide employers with information that will enable the maintenance of employees’ health and organizational preparation for the winter alongside the coronavirus.
Sheba, which is leading research on coronavirus, will set up a series of serological tests for companies and organizations in collaboration with Target Market, operating under the brand Target Medcare, a leading company in Israel for managing projects and logistics systems, that will carry out the project.
A serological test is a blood test to detect the presence of antibodies for various diseases, including the coronavirus. The presence of these antibodies in the body, at a reasonable level, produces a maximum certainty of almost 99% that the subject has been previously exposed to the coronavirus.
“The ability to diagnose the status of employees in the organization serologically is a key to a safe return to an organizational work routine during the coronavirus period,” Regev-Yohai explained. “The work has shown that those who develop antibodies are not exposed to re-infection. Therefore, periodic antibody tests will allow organizations to return workers to work spaces, meetings, reception and travel abroad.”
The testing system will be a strategic tool for employers, which, according to its results, will streamline the decision-making process in companies and enable a return to an efficient work routine based on testing data such as: staffing and division of tasks, division of offices, hybrid work planning (who works from home and who from the office), clients, employee trips abroad and general preparation for winter.
In addition to the strategic value to companies and their continued functioning, organizations will allow employees to operate in a safer environment, even on an emotional level, and will even allow some of them to return to work and social circles. In fact, many workers who have been working from home for about six months want to return to a regular work environment. In addition, tests have a personal value for employees in managing their personal life routine, such as: meeting with older parents, populations at risk and especially peace of mind.
Serological tests are starting to become more present all around the world. Although a small number of tests are still performed in Israel, there are a number of companies in the United States that have begun providing testing and consulting services to organizations. One such example is the biomed company Ofco, which performs a series of serological tests commissioned by employers in the United States and who reported an increased demand for serological tests.
Target Medcare expects that the new service will gain momentum and that tests for organizations in Israel will soon be a necessity in light of the uncertainty and the requirement for intelligent and data-based risk management.