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Hawaiʻi County launches program to limit the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace

The Biden administration has announced a new investment in at-home COVID tests. Here, an Abbott BinaxNow test.
Ted S. Warren
/
AP
The Biden administration has announced a new investment in at-home COVID tests. Here, an Abbott BinaxNow test.

A new effort on Hawaiʻi Island aims to limit the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. Hawaiʻi County, in partnership with the nonprofit Community First, launched the Healthier Organizations for Everyone program earlier this month.

The HOE program encourages businesses to provide rapid COVID tests to employees who are traveling off-island, regardless of vaccination status.

Hawaiʻi County spokesperson Cyrus Johnasen says a lot of the island’s cases came from the workplace, specifically employees returning shortly after traveling.

"When an employee is ready to head off-island, whether it’s to Honolulu, another island, or to the mainland, the idea is that the employer provides them with a rapid test prior to their travel," he said.

"And then ask them to do a test 24 hours before returning to work. If that test is positive, we encourage employers to ask their employees to take a test elsewhere to get a lab PCR test. Otherwise, if it comes back negative, we encourage the employer to allow the employee to come back to work without additional testing."

Johnasen says the program is offering 20 free rapid tests to the first 100 businesses that sign up to participate.

So far, only 54 businesses are participating in the program.

More information can be found at hawaiicounty.gov.

Casey Harlow was an HPR reporter and occasionally filled in as local host of Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
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