TestZone unveils new platform to keep employees socially distanced

Stamford-based health screening firm TestZone has partnered with Australia-based Leash IT to help companies keep employees safe as they return to working in offices following the coronavirus pandemic.

TestZone will use Leash IT’s LeashView platform to enable firms to maintain social distancing. The technology uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) with analytic capabilities to help organizations carry out proactive social distancing, reliable contact tracing, and access control monitoring. It will also assist in limiting the number of people per room or area.

The LeashView platform allows a company's existing ID badge to intermittently emit Bluetooth pulses that determine where wearers have been and who they might have encountered. This technology will work alongside TestView’s other tech, including symptom screening, hygiene, sanitation measures, behavior change communications, fully staffed onsite and at-home viral testing, and contact tracing.

Forty organizations in Australia, Thailand, the UK, and Israel, including hospitals and medical research institutions, have already installed LeashView.

David Orelowitz, TestZone co-founder and chief technology officer (CTO), said that while more citizens get vaccinated, coronavirus is still prevalent in most parts of the world.

“This is a critical time for industry. It's never been more imperative we get people back to work in a safe, effective manner,” Orelowitz said.

Orelowitz added that LeashView was the technology his company was looking to integrate into its core offerings so it could help ensure businesses, sporting events, concerts, film productions and more, “stay open and people stay employed.”

Tony Lotzof, CEO at Leash IT, said a strategic health security program is now “imperative for any arena, business or school and needs to become the new normal for organizations of all sizes.”

“The combination of TestZone and LeashView provide the scientific expertise, data and traceability to protect staff and assets and mitigate any risks before they happen, and we are very excited to be on the front lines of this effort with the experts at TestZone," he added.

COVID-19 health passports have gained traction recently. At the end of March, New York announced a voluntary digital app that verifies an individual's recent negative PCR test result or proof of vaccination. Major venues, including Madison Square Garden in New York City and Times Union Center in Albany, New York have announced plans to use the technology in the coming weeks.