Using a nasal swab and a test tube, hundreds of Kroger employees gave themselves a Covid-19 test.
The nation’s largest supermarket chain said Thursday it wants to sell the test kits at home to employers trying to reopen or stay open as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
Kroger and CVS Health both stand up against employers because nationwide test delays cause long waiting times for patients and make it harder for public health officials to track the virus and stop it from spreading. The slow turnaround times, which can last a week or more, have also made it harder for businesses, schools and other parts of society to figure out how to operate safely.
CVS has a program called Return Ready. Businesses and colleges can hire the healthcare company to open Covid-19 test sites in an office or on campus, track tests on their drive-through sites, or handle related services such as contact tracing or administering flu shots.
Kroger is striking with companies that can buy his test kits at home, which are sent to employees overnight.
Colleen Lindholz, president of Kroger Health, said results from the company’s home test kits typically take about three days – including shipping.
“That’s honestly an important differentiator for us at the moment,” she said.
CVS Chief Medical Officer Dr. Troyen Brennan said instead of relying on overdue labs, employers can hire CVS to open a location on their campus, test workers and get the results within minutes with a quick diagnostic test.
“Point-of-care testing has no delay, so we are expanding point-of-care testing,” he said. In the coming months, Brennan said he expects rapid test devices with greater sensitivity to become available and to limit the difference in accuracy between tests processed on-site and by labs.
Many companies will need to step in to provide the kind of rapid and comprehensive testing that the U.S. needs, said Fred Turner, CEO of Curative, a developer of Covid-19 testing. He said he would like to test to become an easy, standard tool that is used to reduce risk in everyday situations, such as before a person books a plane or goes to the office – not just when the person shows symptoms.
“We have to do millions of tests a day,” he said. “We still have to break the 1 million mark. As a country, the more people working to scale this up, the better.”
Kroger and CVS were among the national retailers that met with President Donald Trump in April and committed to opening drive-to-test locations because the country was struggling to roll out widespread testing and address shortages of supplies, such as swabs and masks.
Kroger is owned by several stores, including Harris Teeter and Fred Meyer. It has more than 2,200 pharmacies and 220 clinics in 35 states.
Lindholz said the merchant had drive-to-test locations in 19 states, including Alaska, but most are now closed. She said the approach required the company to pull practitioners and pharmacists nurses out of stores, by going through a lot of protective equipment and exposing employees to health risks.
She said Kroger wanted to find a simpler, safer and faster way. It first developed test kits at home for its employees. The box contains a swab, alcohol wipes, a red tube and biohazard bag. A Kroger medical professional explains directions and guides the person through the test with a virtual visit.
The test kits at home cost $ 119 each, but businesses can get a volume discount. Nearly 1,000 of Kroger’s employees took the tests. The company declined to say how many customers it has so far.
CVS refused to release its pricing information, saying each contract is different based on the type of test, frequency of tests and services the company chooses.
CVS has more than 1,800 drive-through test locations. Brennan said waiting times for test results have dropped from nearly 10 days in mid-July to an average of less than four days. He said CVS would improve that by up to three days or less for at least 95% of their tests.
The company has more than 40 clients using Return Ready, including universities and corporations, and more than 1,000 potential clients, CVS Chiefs Larry Merlo said last week about a call for a profit.
Brennan said CVS is adapting its testing services to the employer. For example, CVS can staff a dedicated clinic for the employer with a rapid testing device. It can also test workers on one of their drive-thrus and send results to the employer.
With Kroger’s household tests, Lindholz said the company saw “a way to make a difference and make the country useful” – especially because it saw such a great need. She said it could also change the way customers think of Kroger and combine their mission to serve fresh food to health.
Along with the home kits, Kroger can customize the program such as setting up a test site at large factories like meat packing plants, she said. It also has plans to add rapid testing to its retail pharmacies.
She said Kroger and her lab partner, Gravity Diagnostics, could initially process 60,000 tests per week, but plans to double that to 120,000 per week. She said the merchant is looking to hire lab partners in other parts of the country.
Lindholz said it has spoken with clients in hairdressing, sports, health care and education, but declined to disclose their numbers and names.
When a person does the home test, she said she puts the swab around each nostril – but only halfway up, unlike the nasopharyngeal caps that go deep into the nostril.
Even Lindholz acknowledged that the test could be a bit tricky. She said the telemedicine consultation goes a long way, with health care staff trained to coax and calm the person being tested.
She said it is awaiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration for an approach that people may find less intimidating: a speech-based test.
.
