15 El Paso small businesses to participate in rapid Covid-19 testing

EL PASO, Texas -- A pilot Covid-19 test program is coming to El Paso in hopes of helping businesses operations. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Division of Emergency Management selected the El Paso Chamber to participate, along with five other chambers of commerce in the Lone Star state.

"We are very excited to do this. We are excited for the ability to keep a business open, so this will allow us to continue to allow our employees to go into homes that we go into with high risk clients," said Brandy Patton, owner of Home Instead care services.

Home Instead offers preventative care to elderly patients in their homes, and a big concern for family members is whether or not a care provider is free of Covid-19.

"Anxiety is given to us by families being like 'are you safe to be in our home? Is it ok for you to be in our home without knowing their background?'" Patton said. "This allows them to go, 'I know you're a safe person to be in our home.'"

The pilot phase selected 15 small businesses to participate, they were selected from a list of previously identified businesses affected by Covid-19.

For Patton and her staff of 65 employees this is a way to keep their company running. Their goal is to care for their patients at their home, especially now when treating patients at a hospital comes with a risk of getting infected with Covid-19.

"Our average client is 80 to 90 years old and female, so we want to make sure that they stay home and that we continue to offer preventative care that keeps them out of the hospital," Patton said.

All 15 businesses will have to train employees and test their employees regularly. Each business selected will receive 40 Binax Now Covid-19 rapid tests from the El Paso Chamber for distribution.