Amherst, NY (WBEN) - As businesses prepare to reopen across Western New York, many are turning to physicians for medical advice on how to do so safely.
Dr. Kim Oddo and Dr. Mark Costanza from HealthWorks WNY are working with many business owners to create policies for a smooth reopening.
There are common sense steps that doctors go through with businesses, such as hand washing and surface cleaning that are what Oddo and Costanza call the ‘first step’ of the equation for re-opening.
Then there are the next steps.
“One of the most common questions we’re getting now is about lab-based (testing) for COVID-19,” Dr. Costanza said.
“If we were talking in late March or early April, I would have said that testing is just not available,” Dr. Oddo said. “There was not ability to test on a large-scale basis, but they are getting there… Whether there’s the scale that we can test every employee once a week, I don’t know if we’ll get to that point, but certainly with antibody testing now, I do think those results are valuable.”
Oddo said that antibodies tests could give employers a more clear picture of what is going on inside of their company. Do they have a percentage of employees who have had the disease that far surpasses the general population? If so, are those employees working on one specific task, or only with each other?
The answers to those questions can shape workplace policies.
For now, employers must rely on other methods to keep people safe.
“There’s one particular business where we’re actually providing 24/7 temperature checks on their employees before they begin work,” Dr. Costanza said.