Germantown to offer COVID-19 assurance testing for workers
Germantown hopes to soon offer routine COVID-19 testing for all city employees working onsite.
Germantown Fire Department began assurance testing on Nov. 20, with firefighters tested every nine days. Beginning Monday, the city plans to offer testing to police officers and eventually expand it to court, dispatch and public works personnel, according to Germantown Fire Chief John Selberg.
Selberg said the testing is voluntary and about 70% of firefighters participate currently, but he believes over time more employees will test after seeing the benefits.
“There are still people that like to keep their personal health status separate from work, and we understand and respect that, so we are trying hard to protect that trust,” the fire chief said. “We are stressing that this is primarily for the benefit of the employee and their co-workers.”
Selberg said routine testing is necessary to catch asymptomatic city employees early on.
“Fortunately, our city employees have done a great job taking the necessary precautions, which has resulted in only a limited number of people getting COVID within our workforce, and almost all of those were spread outside the workplace,” Selberg said. “This is an additional step to help protect them and the people we serve.”
The firefighters test themselves with the nasal swab, put the sample in a vial with their name on it and give it to a testing team made up of fire department paramedics. The testing team then runs the swabs to Poplar Healthcare where they are checked for the virus.
The department also uses Poplar Healthcare's database to record those tested and give the city a summary report.
Selberg said employees in the next phase will also test themselves.
He said the testing allowed the city to catch an asymptomatic employee, isolate him and use contact tracing to notify anyone exposed.
“We realize that the test only shows their status that day and it can change the next day, so we want to increase the chances of catching a positive case quick enough to limit the chance of spread,” he said.