Employees going to the office regularly will have to get tested weekly, the company said. Employees have been asked to report their vaccination status and wear surgical-grade masks indoors.

Google spokesperson Lora Lee Erickson confirmed to the verge that a new covid-19 policy is now being implemented. The new temporary covid-19 policy will allow people accessing our sites in the US to obtain a recent negative covid-19 molecular test before coming onsite.

Google offers free at-home testing to employees and contract workers through bioiq’s pcr-based nasal swab tests. Contractors are specifically being offered the mail-in bioiq tests, according to a tweet from the alphabet workers union.

New policies add to Google’s directive from December requiring employees to get vaccinated or risk being forced to take leave and eventually be fired. Google delayed its mandatory return to the office to some point this year in August.