Environment, Health, and Safety staff who contributed to setting up the clinic.
The Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, in partnership with NCI and the NIH Clinical Center, recently began asymptomatic COVID-19 testing for government and Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., staff.
This program is voluntary but encouraged for those currently working on-site. Multiple studies have suggested that up to 50 percent of people infected are asymptomatic. It is important to know whether you may be infected so you can take the necessary precautions to protect those around you. It is also important to note that the asymptomatic program is for persons without close-contact exposure to persons who have tested positive for COVID-19. (If you have symptoms or believe you have had close-contact exposure, please contact Occupational Health Services at 301-846-1096.)
How to Get Tested
Asymptomatic testing takes approximately five minutes and is a self-collected mid-turbinate nasal swabbing. (A mid-turbinate test swabs a section near the middle of the nasal canal, unlike the deeper pharyngeal swabs.) Testing is by appointment only, so you must register in advance at https://clinweb.cc.nih.gov/cct. You must take the following actions to be scheduled:
- Read and acknowledge the privacy act notice. This guarantees that any personally identifiable information you provide, including your contact information in step two, will be stored securely and used only for purposes related to the test.
- Establish an account in the patient portal using your personal cell phone number and email account.
- Sign up to get tested.
Please carefully note the testing site based upon the day you have requested an appointment. Your default testing location is based on your work location. For those who work in Montgomery County, the default is the NIH campus. For those who work in Frederick County, the default is a Frederick location. If you wish to have your testing site changed, the registration system will allow you to change your preferred testing site.
All Hands on Deck
After a lot of effort and teamwork, staff set up the testing site location in less than two weeks. Ron Kunz, Sarah Hooper, and Kelly Schultheis were instrumental in rapidly preparing a site, ordering materials, writing standard operating procedures, training staff, and more. John Bell coordinated the testing site location, which included the construction trailer, the power connection, the internet service, and a new wooden deck. In addition, the Enterprise Information Technology Directorate and Data Management Services, Inc., personnel provided tremendous support in setting up computers, printers, and scanners and navigating the many pieces of software.
Healthcare Heroes
The Occupational Health Services staff play a leading role in asymptomatic COVID-19 testing. At that same time, this team is administrating flu shots and handling employee concerns and illnesses related to COVID-19 and any contact tracing that is required. They also continue to do their “day job” of running the Occupational Health Services clinic, performing medical surveillance and new-employee placement examinations, and addressing employee injuries and other concerns. To support the asymptomatic testing effort, other employees from Protective Services, Safety, and Radiation Safety and Environment Services provide staff during test times, and scientific couriers from the Applied and Developmental Research Directorate and the Clinical Monitoring Research Program Directorate transport the samples to the Clinical Center. These people are the heroes of the operation.
If you would like to be tested, the clinic is open from 1:00–3:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. On Mondays and Wednesdays, testing is available at the Building 426 rear parking lot on the NCI at Frederick campus. On Tuesdays, it’s available at the Vaccine Pilot Plant, and on Thursdays, it’s available at the Advanced Technology Research Facility.
