Regular COVID testing is an essential part of the fight against the pandemic. Northshore Clinical Labs supports rapid mass testing at their laboratory in Chicago, IL, an essential tool to help stop the spread of COVID-19. It’s a proven strategy that helps to identify who has the virus and can get the treatment they need while preventing them from spreading it to others.
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The Case for Mass Testing
Knowledge is power. Regular COVID testing will let you live more confidently, and safely. When more people know their COVID test results, they can return to work and play confidently.
People who know they have the virus can take steps to recover and protect others from getting sick. Communities can plan with confidence knowing when individuals were tested.
Regular COVID testing is a proven strategy that helps identify those who have the virus and slows down outbreaks before they get out of control.
Knowing your COVID test result lets you:
- Live more freely by knowing if you’re negative or positive before you go out into the community.
- Confidently plan events and activities knowing when individuals were tested and if they have the virus.
- Protect yourself and others by keeping someone who has the virus from spreading it to others.
- More people may feel comfortable leaving their homes, returning to work or schools if they know that everyone around them has been regularly tested.
- Organizations can plan to know who has been tested, leading to greater flexibility and confidence in planning events and activities.
More Vaccines and More Testing
While the vaccines are rolling out, more and more people want to get back to living their lives but still want a layer of protection. And that’s where regular COVID testing comes in. It’s a proven strategy that helps to identify who has the virus and can get the treatment they need while preventing them from spreading it to others.
Many organizations also require or plan for employees and visitors alike who regularly test for COVID-19. Testing increases safety and helps them plan ahead.
The Need for Social-Welfare Support
Since March 2020, governments worldwide have focused on public health measures to slow down the transmission of the virus. These measures include targeted lockdowns, social distancing, and contact tracing. The recent news about vaccines has lifted some spirits, but there is a risk that herd immunity may not be reached before vaccines are widely distributed.
While these public health measures have effectively reduced infection rates in many countries, they also carry unintended consequences. In many countries, school closures have meant that children have missed out on vital learning and may have to repeat years of schooling. Long-term economic impacts may result in future generations being worse off than they would otherwise have been had the pandemic not occurred.
How Northshore Clinical Labs is helping
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, Northshore Clinical Laboratories has been on the frontlines supporting health and wellness in Illinois.
In addition to our efforts to provide COVID-19 testing, they support several community initiatives and programs that positively impact these uncertain times, especially for vulnerable populations.
The company is a locally owned and operated medical laboratory, providing laboratory services throughout Illinois. It has been in business for many years, but it is an industry leader in COVID testing, with more experience than other labs across the country.
Here’s a look at some of what they are doing to help improve lives during the pandemic
They are community-oriented
Northshore Clinical Labs is deeply rooted in Chicago’s local communities and considers itself a community lab. This means that the lab feels a responsibility to provide outstanding service. The company is highly involved and committed to improving the health of its patients through education and outreach programs, with a focus on patient care, quality service, and rapid turnaround time.
Summer camp testing for COVID
Summer camps in Illinois were allowed to reopen this summer, but there were some requirements set by the state for them to reopen. One of these requirements was that all campers had to be tested for COVID before attending camp.
There was great concern about camps reopening because they tend to draw kids from all over the region, so there wasn’t a way to know whether or not these kids had the virus before attending camp.
NorthShore Clinical Labs partnered with dozens of camps around the state to help them meet this requirement so that kids could have fun during their summer break while remaining safe and healthy at the same time.
Speedy test results
Northshore Clinical Labs has always prided itself on fast, accurate results and providing quality patient care. The company’s high-throughput labs can process thousands of COVID tests daily, and they also help provide rapid test results, which is very important during a public health crisis like the one we’re currently facing.
In addition to providing test results quickly, NorthShore Clinical Labs also do their best to help those in need by providing them with testing and other forms of assistance.
Northshore’s Test to Stay program
Throughout the pandemic, Illinois’ schools have suffered from a lack of COVID testing options. Northshore has answered their call with a program to provide rapid testing for students and staff at participating charter schools and public schools.
This service gives students and parents peace of mind about their school environments and provides valuable data to help inform decisions about how to manage the pandemic at each school.
Support for the homeless
While many people worldwide are focused on getting their lives back to normal as the COVID-19 pandemic draws down, others continue to struggle. Some of those who have been hit hardest by the economic fallout of the pandemic are people who were already at risk because they were homeless.
One attempt to improve these people’s lives is a non-profit called ShowerUp, which Northshore Clinical Labs supports. ShowerUp helps provide water and mobile showers for the homeless across Chicago.
Northshore Clinical Labs has provided testing services for clients of ShowerUp, including COVID testing for people who may or may not be homeless. To date, Northshore has tested several thousand individuals through this program.
Continued Action
Mass testing for COVID won’t just minimize and prevent health risks but also financial, mental, and emotional suffering. In this way, humanity’s human capital will increase thanks to rapid testing, vaccinations, and continued community efforts, allowing for economic growth and improved quality of life.
