Hi everyone, it’s Kevin. Today is Monday, May 11. (Click here for podcast.)
Since my last podcast, we’ve had two new cases of COVID-19.
The first case was identified through testing on Friday in Groton. The individual works in D423 and works in the basement of Building 97. This individual was exhibiting no symptoms of COVID-19.
The second case was identified over the weekend as a result of a test taken with their personal physician due to a spouse who was exhibiting symptoms. This individual works at Quonset Point in Department 935 in Building 60.
We are continuing our COVID-19 antigen and antibody testing of employees today in Groton. Antigen testing, the nasal swab, determines if an employee currently has the virus; antibody testing, the finger prick test, determines whether someone has developed antibodies against COVID-19.
We started testing on Friday at a tent we set up near the wet-dock cafeteria. We tested 602 employees with only one positive COVID-19 test, as I just described. Nine people tested positive for antibodies. Of those, seven were already known to have had the virus. That means two people tested positive for antibodies that were not previously known.
Testing continues today at the wet dock along with additional stations we’ve added in the third floor conference room in Building 88. Supervisors are assigned a specific time-slot for their team through the Cornerstone training system.
The testing process is running pretty smoothly. We are ahead of other companies who are just now thinking about how they will monitor and test employees to ensure their safety. We also have a distinct advantage with our in-house medical team. Our Medical Directors, Dr. Hurley and Dr. Andrews, and their teams have a wealth of experience managing large health fair events, although COVID-19 poses additional challenges with social distancing and enhanced disinfectant protocols between the tests. Thank you to them and everyone who has helped to quickly get our testing program up and running. Testing will move to other locations in a phased manner over the next several weeks.
I continue to strongly encourage all employees to get tested. Testing is critical for understanding how COVID-19 is spreading at EB and within our communities. Our efforts are aligned with those of our states. Both Connecticut and Rhode Island are ramping up testing to support the easing of restrictions and allowing businesses to re-open.
Connecticut Governor Lamont has set a goal of 42,000 diagnostic tests per week, while the State of Rhode Island last week announced it will be performing its first round of blood antibody tests. On Saturday, Governor Raimondo lifted Rhode Island’s stay at home order and began rolling out Phase 1 of her state’s plan for re-opening. On Friday, Governor Lamont shared details of his plan to begin opening the state to non-essential businesses on May 20 based on the state’s continuing declining rates of hospitalizations.
Like our states, we are putting plans in place to thoughtfully and carefully transition our operations from a mode of crisis response to recovery – what I am calling a recovery with resilience. First and foremost, we must continue to work together to keep everyone safe – COVID is here to stay and we will need to continue to respond as people continue to become infected to ensure any spread is held in check. Second, we must make up for lost productivity as a result of the slowdown our response to the pandemic has caused – simply put, we are falling behind in all aspects of our business, so we will have ground to make up over time. Third, we must continue to improve by capturing the efficiencies we have identified as part of our COVID response – working from home is just one of many examples where we’ve seen recent efficiency. You will hear a lot more from me in the coming weeks about how we plan to do this.
Your safety is and will continue to be my number-one priority. Over the last 120 years, our company has adapted to the times in which we live. Long before COVID-19, our company was undergoing a culture change that was very much needed. I believe our response to this crisis has accelerated that culture change and has taught us how to adapt quickly to a rapidly changing environment. I think we are better for it and now must leverage that experience to become a better team. We solve complicated problems every day. Now, we must use that know-how to help achieve our future.
Stay healthy and safe and start thinking about recovering with resilience. Thanks for listening.
Kevin
