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Covid-19: Prysmian Group with ENEA and Simitecno launches pilot screening study in its Naples-based plant

Covid-19: Prysmian Group with ENEA and Simitecno launches pilot screening study in its Naples-based plant

Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cables systems industry, in collaboration with Simitecno S.r.l. and ENEA, announces the launch of a pilot study for monitoring the SARS-Cov-2 virus in its Arco Felice plant in Pozzuoli (Naples).

From 11 February onwards, employees and their family members and the independent contractors working in the plant will be subject to voluntary screening with a molecular oropharyngeal swab directly in-house, with the aim of preventing cases of Covid-19 and its spread within the production plant.

In line with Prysmian Group’s painstaking health and safety management, this study adopts the molecular swab investigation technology using Point-Of-Care Testing, made available by Simitecno and fine-tuned by ENEA, through its Health Protection Technology Division, whose mission includes the transferring of advanced technologies and services to companies working nationwide. This study entails cooperation with the Local Health Authorities in the event of positive diagnoses in the facilities involved. The study will involve about 1,000 people in a six-month period.

"If the measure proves to be effective in containing infections, this rapid test strategy model could be adapted and exported to other Prysmian Group activities, performed in different parts of the world,” explained Antonio Traversi, Group HSE Director.

Antonio Traversi

Group HSE Director

The screening will also include the validation of a system to replace the more invasive oropharyngeal swab with a saliva sample with less impact on the employee, examined with a preliminary study by the Italian IRCCS Neurological Institute Casimiro Mondino Foundation in Pavia.

This new measure is in addition to all the mitigation actions to protect employees put in place by the Group to tackle the spread of Covid-19 and safeguard its people, including implementation of further stringent health and safety measures in the plants and offices and the extensive adoption of remote working.