Google has come up with a new perk for Silicon Valley’s famously spoiled staff: free, weekly Covid-19 at-home tests.
The search giant rolled out the new benefit to all of its 90,000 U.S. employees this week, a spokesman said. The initiative guarantees all of them a weekly nasal swab at home and a lab analysis – whether they report in person or not. The company recommends that every staff member is tested weekly.
The offering proved so popular that Google’s internal website for it crashed shortly after it went live on Thursday. Employees of Google’s top search sites, as well as businesses including YouTube, Google X, fiber optic internet, and artificial intelligence, all have access to the tests. International Google employees will have access from next year.
While other companies ranging from Tyson Foods Inc.
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to Delta Air Lines Inc.,
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have begun testing on-site staff reporting, Google appears to be its largest to date targeting employees stuck at home since March. The Google workforce has since been covered by a home work assignment, recently extended until September 2021.
The polymerase chain reaction or PCR tests look for the genetic material of the virus in samples collected with a self-administered nasal swab. Google signed a contract with the healthcare company BioIQ Inc. to send the kits and find the laboratories where the results can be processed quickly.
Employees are guaranteed to receive a test within three days of requesting one through the internal website, and the results are back within two days of receipt of the sample by a lab. The initiative targets asymptomatic carriers or individuals who can carry the virus without showing signs of it.
BioIQ conducts in-person testing for other companies, including Pinewood Atlanta Studios.
Google will pay about $ 50 each for testing, said a person familiar with the matter. That would put Google on the hook to pay a whopping $ 4.5 million for weekly tests. Google set a limit of two tests per week per employee. The Google spokesperson said the company will not seek reimbursement from the government or insurance.
Last year, Google parent Alphabet Inc.
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made $ 660 million in profit per week.
During a televised event on Friday, Vice President Mike Pence was given the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. Second lady Karen Pence and Surgeon General Jerome Adams also received the vaccine. Photo: Andrew Harnik / Associated Press
Write to Rob Copeland at [email protected] and Sarah Krouse at [email protected]
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