Why frontline healthcare workers need COVID-19 tests

Last updated: May 28, 2020

UPDATE: Since March 23, while working with the FDA to attain an EUA for at-home sample collection, Everlywell has been supplying qualifying organizations with COVID-19 test supplies for use in clinical settings. To date we have supplied 30,000 test kits to frontline workers and patients in need.

On May 16, Everlywell received an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the FDA for our COVID-19 Test Home Collection Kit (now COVID-19 test Home Collection Kit DTC*) to help find out if they have COVID-19. The COVID-19 collection kit comes with everything needed to safely self-collect a sample at home, ship it to a CLIA-certified lab, and receive results within 24-48 hours of the lab receiving your sample. The EUA issued to Everlywell is the first to be granted to a digital health company like Everlywell.

Published: Sunday, March 22

Healthcare workers face the highest risk of exposure as COVID-19 continues to spread. Recent briefings from the White House's Coronavirus Task Force have stated it's become increasingly apparent there is a desperate need for healthcare workers taking care of patients on the frontlines to have priority access to testing for COVID-19. The hundreds of inbound requests we received from healthcare institutions over the last 5 days, which have asked for over 250,000 tests for their frontline staff and priority patients, affirms this.

For those reasons, we have made the decision to allocate our initial days' supply of COVID-19 Tests to healthcare companies with health workers on the frontlines only in order to get these tests in the hands of those who need them most urgently.

We are still committed to making this test available to consumers who fall within the CDC’s guidelines for recommended testing soon and will be providing updates about consumer availability on our site.

By providing healthcare workers with COVID-19 Tests, we help mitigate the spread of the virus within the healthcare community.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 50 percent of the people (222 of 445) exposed to the first 10 patients with travel-related confirmed COVID-19 cases were healthcare workers. The New Yorker reports that 1300 healthcare workers became infected during the outbreak in Wuhan, with an infection rate more than three times as high as the general population.

Today, COVID-19 cases are increasing daily, with caregivers working strenuous hours having to reuse or go without proper equipment like N95 respirator masks, as they come into contact with an insurmountable number of COVID-19 cases. Compounded with an increased number of people seeking treatments for unknown conditions in emergency rooms, healthcare workers are more at risk of contracting the disease and possibly transmitting it to patients or staff. This could lead to a reduction in healthcare personnel capacity, leaving a much-needed and already strained workforce short-staffed.

Raising the question: if our healthcare workers become ill with COVID-19, who will be healthy enough to treat patients?

We believe it is critically important to equip our healthcare workers who put themselves at risk with the tools and resources they need to test broadly and prevent the spread of COVID-19. Stay informed on the latest status of Everlywell and the U.S. COVID-19 Test availability by visiting our COVID-19 Testing Resource.

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Experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and looking for relief? Get COVID-19 treatment online via Everlywell's Virtual Care offering.

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