Petrobras surpassed the mark of 15 thousand tests for Covid-19 carried out among its employees. The tests form an important barrier to contagion, along with other measures such as the use of masks, reinforcement in hygiene, changes in operational routines to allow distance between people and, mainly, the reduction of face-to-face performance - more than 90% of employees administrative activities work in homeoffice and in operational areas only half of the staff is working in person to maintain activities essential to society.

As it is a barrier to the prevention of contagion, the tests are applied both to Petrobras' own staff and to employees of service providers, especially when they are in person at the company. More than 6 thousand tests were aimed at Petrobras employees and more than 9 thousand tests for professionals from service providers, mainly in the screening of asymptomatic people before the start of operational shifts, either in maritime units or on land.

Of the total, about 11 thousand were rapid tests, which detect antibodies and have been used to screen professionals before beginning activities in operational areas, such as platforms and refineries. More than 200 professionals without any symptoms were identified in the screening with positive results for immature antibodies (which indicate that the virus may be active in the body), which demonstrates the effectiveness of the tests as a barrier against contagion, since otherwise these people they would not even be counted, nor would they be isolated and monitored by health teams. Another 4,200 are RT-PCR tests, used in symptomatic collaborators, contacts and other specific situations to confirm or rule out diagnoses.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Petrobras has started efforts to acquire test kits and hire specialized services. Even with bottlenecks in the supply of testing supplies and services, the company was one of the first companies to acquire tests for Covid-19. Services were contracted from 15 laboratories and tests were made available via drive thru and 29 collection points for employees throughout Brazil. The company has acquired more rapid test kits in order to, according to the market's service capacity, expand the scope and frequency of application of tests in the operational units, always considering technical criteria and the evaluation of the region's health status.

The company understands that an accurate diagnosis of the situation in its units is essential to assess its prevention strategies. To give you an idea, the proportion of tests at Petrobras is 100 tests per group of 1,000 people, a rate higher than countries like Spain and the United States (data from Worldometers.info on 5/21). The company monitors in real time the health data of its employees, who are instructed to report immediately if any symptoms occur through a 24-hour call center, in addition to electronic service. Petrobras also works with service providers to monitor their employees, providing full support when necessary.