The Ministry of Health has amended the anti-epidemic measures aimed at minimizing the risk of coronavirus transmission in the population, in response to the rapid spread of omicron. Starting from January 11th, the mandatory quarantine period will be reduced to five days. The regular testing of employees will continue, and will be increased to twice a week from January 17th be increased twice a week, for an initial period of two to three weeks. The changes were approved by the government today. Credit: Freepik
Czech Republic, Jan 06 (BD) – “There is a large turnover of people in companies, and this is also associated with the risk of spreading the high-risk omicron variant,” said Health Minister Vlastimil Válek (TOP 09). “We therefore want to catch as many new cases as possible, as quickly as possible. The increased frequency of testing up to twice a week will reduce the risk of introducing a possible infection among other employees.”
If employees refuse to take the test, the employer is obliged to report this to the local public health authority as soon as possible. Those refusing are then required to wear a respirator, maintain a distance of 1.5 meters from other people, if possible, and eat separately.
Self-employed people will also be required to undergo antigen self-tests twice a week, unless they do not meet any other people during the course of their work.
From January 11th, the quarantine period will be shortened to five days from the date of the first positive test. Until now, the quarantine period has been 14 days, with the option of ending after seven days with a negative PCR test. No exit test will be required from now on, but those leaving quarantine are required to wear a respirator for the next 5 days.
According to Válek, vaccinated people will also be subject to workplace testing requirements, and will also have to go into quarantine for five days if exposed to someone with Covid-19.
