For several weeks now, the region has been testing covid-19 patients. However, as of next week, testing will be expanded to include suspected infected personnel in health care, municipal care and personal assistance.

- The purpose is for employees to be able to return to work earlier if they are not infected, says regional director Ingeborg Eriksson.

Must agree on testing

Testing shall be carried out at the health center in which the personnel are listed. But testing must not take place until the suspected infected staff and the nearest manager have agreed that the staff should be tested.

If it turns out that the staff is infected with the coronavirus, the responsible physician gives precautions. If it is not covid-19, the patient is responsible for contacting his / her manager to agree to return to work or not.

The region cannot say a number on how many to be tested. Everything depends on the availability of reagents and sampling sticks.

Waiting for national support

The region has received many questions about antibody testing from private individuals who want to know if they have been infected with covid-19, according to Lisa Labbé Sandelin. However, antibody testing will not take place at this time.

- There are still many questions about the antibody tests. Right now we are awaiting national support on who should be tried. There is still work to do when we can use the antibody tests in regular routine work, ”says Lisa Labbé Sandelin.