Goldman Sachs, Netflix Ramp Up Covid-19 Testing for Workers
December 20 2020 - 8:29AM
Dow Jones News
By Jared S. Hopkins, Sarah Krouse and Liz Hoffman
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. plans to test workers reporting to its
New York offices for Covid-19 more frequently than it has
throughout the pandemic. Netflix Inc. is adding more rapid testing
to quickly clear the cast and crews of its TV shows.
Eager to safely get employees back to in-person work before
vaccines are widely available, companies from Hollywood to Wall
Street are embracing regular, sometimes daily, testing --
regardless of whether workers feel sick.
Behind both Goldman's and Netflix's efforts is CVS Health Corp.,
which will provide on-site tests with results available in minutes,
people familiar with the matter said. The two companies join Delta
Air Lines Inc. and others that have already been using CVS's
corporate-concierge program.
It is one of many back-to-work testing programs offered by
pharmacies, labs and medical consultancies as employers try to
bring workers safely back to offices, trading floors and movie
sets. Alongside their social-distancing protocols and mask rules,
employers are screening workers more regularly to catch those who
don't show symptoms yet but might carry the virus.
The testing is a bridge until vaccines are available to the
general public, companies say. Doses of the Covid-19 vaccine from
Pfizer Inc. and Germany's BioNTech SE are limited for now and
prioritized for health-care workers and residents of long-term care
facilities. Inoculations for the general public could come in the
spring or summer, health officials say.
Workplace Covid-19 tests are typically covered by employers and
cost anywhere from $15 to more than $100 apiece depending on the
type of test used and the frequency of screenings.
Goldman, whose CEO, David Solomon, has continued going into
headquarters throughout the pandemic and has stressed the
importance of office culture, had already converted a corner of the
lobby for on-site testing. The deal with CVS -- a big client of the
investment bank -- will expand that effort in the hopes of bringing
as many as 2,000 additional traders and bankers back to its New
York office in January, people familiar with the matter said.
In normal times about 8,000 employees report to Goldman's New
York headquarters. About 1,000 have been coming in on an average
day this fall, with temperature checks at the door and floor
markings in the corners of elevators indicating where people should
stand.
Under a deal reached in recent days, bank employees would
receive a CVS-administered rapid test that delivers results in 12
minutes while they wait to enter. It was developed by LumiraDX UK
Ltd., a diagnostics company that some other CVS clients have used
that counts Troy Brennan, CVS's chief medical officer, among its
board members. The firm began working with CVS in September, a
LumiraDX spokeswoman said.
A CVS spokesman said there has been significant demand for its
service and that it chooses testing products based on client needs.
Larry Merlo, the company's chief executive, told investors last
month that the program had enlisted more than 70 clients since
launching in June.
Netflix has tapped CVS to perform some of its point-of-care
testing at production sites, according to people familiar with the
matter. The arrangement doesn't currently cover Netflix office
employees, they say.
CVS and Delta in August announced a partnership for testing of
flight crews at staff lounges of Delta hubs, part of an
employee-testing strategy that has expanded to include voluntary
weekly testing.
Verizon Communications Inc., which also recently joined the CVS
program, now offers free testing at CVS stores to its staff after a
surge in demand for testing ahead of Thanksgiving limited some
workers' access to tests, the carrier's human-resources chief told
staff this month. Office workers at the company are split into
groups permitted to work in the office on a rotating basis, though
executives have encouraged them to work from home when possible as
cases rise nationwide.
HR executives say many workers become infected with the virus at
social gatherings, not at the office, but they are starting to
offer free testing as a wellness benefit, regardless of whether
workers are physically returning to the office. Such testing also
helps catch infected people early and may help limit the virus's
spread to other members of their households.
Google this month began offering free at-home testing to its
90,000 U.S. employees and recommended that each worker be tested
weekly, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. Financial-services
company TIAA also said it is offering free, at-home Covid-19
testing for its employees and dependents who are covered under a
company medical plan.
Some states including New Mexico have recently passed rules that
require retailers to regularly test thousands of public-facing
workers or risk having to shut down facilities when employees
become infected. Such rules have led large employers like Walmart
Inc. to seek low-cost testing, in some cases placing large orders
with test makers directly or backing emerging testing
technology.
--Joe Flint and Alison Sider contributed to this article.
Write to Jared S. Hopkins at jared.hopkins@wsj.com, Sarah Krouse
at sarah.krouse@wsj.com and Liz Hoffman at liz.hoffman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 20, 2020 09:14 ET (14:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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