Medical doctor Günther Malek explains how companies can test strategically and thus protect their employees.
KURIER: Mr. Malek, you run a center for pain medicine. Now you also offer Covid tests for companies. How much has the pandemic changed the focus of your work?
Günther Malek: In addition to the pain medicine center, we have added a second pillar with our City Test Center. The main reason for this was that there was a lack of testing in many places during the first lockdown. When the first large corona cases arose in companies, there was great uncertainty and there was a lack of support. We then started working with laboratories and universities to develop a concept and offer strategic testing for companies.
A sustainable business model?
We currently do many thousands of tests a week and have regular customers, including large companies. Last weekend in Styria, together with a private clinic, we opened 33 test streets at 17 locations – these are planned for five months and 30,000 people have already been tested there. The need for testing will certainly not end abruptly, it will continue for a while. With so many twists and turns and surprises so far, you can never say exactly.
Employees could also go to the public test roads. Wouldn't that also work for security in the company?
At first glance, it is cheaper for a company if employees register on public test roads. But then one of them leaves on Monday, the other on Friday and the next one doesn't get an appointment. It won't work. A company benefits from testing on one day or on specified days. This has more structure and you can keep track of how many have been tested and with what result.
Who are your customers?
They come from all sectors. From production and training facilities to law firms and film and television teams.
Does this require industry-specific test strategies?
General protective measures always form the basis: wear masks, keep your distance, wash your hands. The tests build on this – the more regular and structured, the better. Industries are not the issue. It's more about threat factors and goal setting. Many people come together in training centers, for example. The goal is then to prevent clustering. A second big point is customer contact – no company wants customers or partners to get infected with them. Others want to protect their core teams to keep important departments running. There always needs to be a goal, otherwise testing can lead nowhere.
Have these goals changed over the years?
In the summer, it was mainly those returning to travel who were tested. Now it's more about prevention using antigen tests. They are not as sensitive as PCR tests, but you can still find over 90 percent of the infectious, get a result quickly and they are comparatively cheaper for companies. No test gives absolute certainty, but you can reduce the spread and identify danger points.
And where are the greatest dangers?
It's not so much in the offices, but rather close get-togethers for employees: kitchenette, canteen or common rooms. From a certain size, however, you can no longer prevent the virus from entering the company. One can only keep the level of contagion low.
How do you decide who will be tested first?
In addition to medical high-risk groups, it also makes sense to first test where a failure would hit the company hardest. There are also groups in the workforce that are more risk-conscious. Younger people have a different risk behavior than older people, are more experience-oriented and may have more social contacts.
Couldn't the so-called “nose drill self-test” soon make your offer superfluous?
At the moment these tests can only be bought by professional users, but the legal situation could soon change and antigen tests as self-tests will also be permitted for the general public. That would be an important step.
