As part of this effort, the RADx Underserved Populations RADx-UP program is about finding solutions to stop the spread of COVID, particularly among racial and ethnic minorities, and other vulnerable populations that have been disproportionately affected by this pandemic. Previously, we reported about the launch of this project and our plans to develop community-based approaches to study how best to implement testing and prevention strategies for populations who are disproportionately affected by, have the highest infection rates of, or are most at risk for complications or poor outcomes from COVID Scientists from the NIH and across the country are working around the clock to establish programs that will ensure access to and acceptance of rapid and reliable testing around the country.
Testing can help people determine if they are infected with SARS-CoV-2 — regardless of whether they have symptoms — and whether they are at risk of spreading the infection to others. Taking measures to prevent the spread of infection will be the most effective strategy for getting us safely back to work and school.
We want to take this opportunity to articulate why widespread testing is necessary, important, and achievable. Testing of all people for SARS-CoV-2, including those who have no symptoms, who show symptoms of infection such as trouble breathing, fever, sore throat or loss of the sense of smell and taste, and who may have been exposed to the virus will help prevent the spread of COVID by identifying people who are in need of care in a timely fashion. A positive test early in the course of the illness enables individuals to isolate themselves — reducing the chances that they will infect others and allowing them to seek treatment earlier, likely reducing disease severity and the risk of long-term disability, or death.
Testing of people who have been in contact with others who have a documented infection is also important. Therefore, even if you test negative, you need to continue to protect yourself and others by washing your hands frequently, physically distancing, and wearing a face mask.
A positive test makes it clear that you have to isolate yourself, and that others with whom you have been in contact since the time of your exposure should also get tested. This is far below all of the estimated targets above and a smaller share of the population 0. Applying the population share targets to state testing capacity, we find that this is also the case in all states except one — Rhode Island, which tested 1.
Because testing resources have been limited, the focus has been on people who are sick and hospitalized and frontline health care workers, so it is not surprising that Louisiana and New York have higher rates given the scale of infection in those communities.
There is not yet consensus over what approach to testing is required for social distancing measures to be loosened, or exactly how much capacity is needed. But, by any measure, it is clear that we are far from being able to do enough tests to enable us to move to the next phase of responding to the pandemic in states across the country. Weekly Equivalent as Share of U. If you can show that your approach is reasonable, fair and proportionate, then data protection is very unlikely to be a barrier.
If staff proactively ask you to collect information in relation to COVID or to undertake testing, you could use this to demonstrate that your measures are proportionate for those employees. If you decide that it is necessary to test staff, you need to make sure you manage the information appropriately.
You need to consider whether the tests you select meet your reasons for running a testing regime. You also should consider how effective these measures are at providing accurate results. You need to be mindful of the latest government advice about the most effective and reliable tests for indicating that an employee may have contracted COVID As long as there is a good reason for doing so, data protection law will provide a lawful basis for processing health data in relation to COVID For public authorities carrying out their function, public task is likely to be applicable.
For other public or private employers, legitimate interests is likely to be appropriate, but you need to make your own assessment for your organisation. As such, employers must also identify an Article 9 condition for their processing. There are two relevant Article 9 conditions all organisations could consider — the employment condition and the public health condition. This may apply to organisations who are testing under their employer health and safety conditions.
The public health condition includes employers who are helping to stop the spread of the virus by running their own testing programmes and reporting results to relevant public health contact tracing authorities. It is important to be aware of the requirement to handle personal data with the necessary degree of confidentiality and ensure you have measures in place to do so.
Either of these conditions will cover most of what employers reasonably need to do, as long as they are not collecting or sharing irrelevant or unnecessary data.
Transparency is very important. As an employer, you should be clear, open and honest with employees and contractors from the start about how and why you need to process their personal data. This is crucial when processing health information. If you are testing employees or contractors for COVID or checking for symptoms, you should be clear about what decisions you will make with that information.
Where possible, you should have clear and accessible privacy information in place for employees and contractors, before any health data processing begins. Before carrying out any tests, you should at least let your staff know what personal data you require, what it will be used for and who you will share it with. You should also let them know how long you intend to keep the data for. It would also be helpful for you to provide employees and contractors with the opportunity to discuss the collection of such data if they have any concerns.
Not necessarily. Making testing mandatory is not simply a question of data protection. You can actively encourage members of staff to be checked for symptoms or to be tested, but there are many other factors to consider, such as employment law and your contracts with employees, health and safety requirements and equalities issues.
You should consider other regulations in your industry and the latest government guidance for your sector. Data protection law applies to any personal information that you collect and use. This must be necessary, lawful, fair and transparent. If you make checks and tests mandatory, you must carefully consider whether your use of the data is fair and proportionate to the specified purpose e. You should take into account any potential negative consequences for individuals and whether using a voluntary approach could achieve the same or similar results.
Before you put such measures in place, you must complete a data protection impact assessment. This depends on the safety measures that your organisation needs to put in place. Any checking or testing of your staff and subsequent processing of their health information should be reasonable and proportionate to the specific circumstances including, in some cases, their role.
For example, in some sectors where interactions with vulnerable individuals are common, repeat testing may be required more often.
You also have a responsibility to take reasonable steps to ensure that you hold accurate data. You need to base any decisions you take on factually accurate information. If your organisation is providing a service for testing employees, you must ensure that you are processing personal information lawfully, fairly and transparently. Before carrying out any tests, you must tell your staff what personal information you require, what it will be used for and who you will share it with.
You should also tell staff how long you intend to keep the data for. It would also be helpful for you to give employees the chance to discuss the collection of their data with you if they have any concerns. You should consider any potential negative consequences for staff and whether this means your use of their data could be unfair. Employees should also be informed about the rights they have in relation to this data, such as their right of access.
If you are only conducting a visual check by looking at a test result on a person's device or in hard copy, or only seeking verbal confirmation and not recording this information, then it will not fall under data protection law in this instance.
As an employer recording this information , any test results that your staff voluntarily disclose to you should be kept secure, and you should consider any duty of confidentiality you owe to those individuals who have provided test results.
Your focus should be on making sure your use of the data is necessary and relevant and that you do not collect or share irrelevant or excessive data, if this is not required. You should consult government guidance for where you operate to determine whether you should share a positive COVID test result with a contact tracing service and ensure that you are transparent with your staff about this.
If you need to collect specific health data about employees, your use of the data must be necessary and relevant for your stated purpose. You should ensure that the data processing is secure and consider any duty of confidentiality you owe to employees.
It would also not be fair to use or retain information you collect about the number of staff who report COVID symptoms for purposes they would not reasonably expect.
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