CO Offering Free At-Home COVID-19 Testing For Frontline Workers
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) announced that anyone whose job requires frequent face-to-face work with the public can sign up for free, at-home COVID-19 testing kits.
According to the CDPHE website, the state is distributing 2 million free rapid BinaxNOW tests directly to the homes of eligible employees in order to continue to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Eligible workers to receive at-home COVID-19 testing include, but are not limited to, those working in:
- Retail
- Hotels and hospitality
- Events industry
- Delivery services
- Movie theaters
- Banks
- Gyms
- Real estate
- Construction
- Building maintenance
- Grocery stores
- Energy and utilities
- Security
- Manufacturing
Those who are eligible to receive an at-home COVID-19 testing kit and are interested in opting in to receive the kit must do the following:
- Apply to order testing kits using the Individual Enrollment Form via the CDPHE website
- Within one business day, you will receive a confirmation email from CDPHE which includes a link to order a test kit - free of charge - directly to your home
- Upon receiving a test kit, log onto a tele-health portal and receive guided instruction by a trained representative from eMed, one of the nation’s leading digital health provider
Those who qualify can order six free BinaxNow kits, to be used every five days as a screening tool. Although rapid tests aren’t as accurate as tests that look for the virus’s genetic material, the frequent use of these rapid tests can help flag people who might be contagious with COVID-19.
The state health department initially started sending the at-home testing kits to teachers in February, then expanded the program to include restaurant workers in March.
The NoCo Virus Tracker articles are made possible by our partners, the Keep NoCo Open campaign that reminds citizens to wear a mask, wash your hands, physically distance and support local as Northern Colorado recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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