Updates: 12/29/2021 6:09 PM
Released: 29.12.2021, 15:58

Prague – From January 4, everyone over the age of 18 will be able to be revaccinated five months after the second dose of the covid-19 vaccine. So far, it has been possible for people under the age of 29, perhaps after six months. The government also wants employers to test all their employees twice a week from January 17. From the New Year, the suspension of the Cabinet payment of the B contribution from the Antivirus program. Although the coronavirus epidemic has been slowing in the Czech Republic for several weeks, there are more and more cases of the more contagious variant of omicron. Experts expect that the number of infected will start to rise again in January due to the omicron.

Another 18 new cases of omicron have been recorded by the University Hospital Brno since Monday. At present, this is 11.4 percent of all positive samples examined at the hospital. In the Elisabeth Pharmacon laboratory in Brno-Židenice, 18 positive samples per omicron have been added today, which is 15 percent of positive samples. The first cases of omicron appeared in the Karlovy Vary, Olomouc and Central Bohemia regions.

According to the Minister of Health Vlastimil Válek (TOP 09), the wave of the epicide caused by the omicron will culminate in the Czech Republic in the last week of January and the first week in February. A large and sharp increase in the number of infected is expected. “Although the situation with the covid-19 seems to be improving as the numbers fall, it’s calm before the storm, as omikron is spreading across Europe. Omikron is in the Czech Republic. Omikron is already in the community in some regions and we we are carefully preparing for it, “he said after today’s government meeting.

About a third of the 6.8 million people vaccinated so far have a booster dose. War warned that according to data from Denmark and Great Britain, the vaccination also omicron.

Companies currently try once a week only employees who have not completed vaccinations or have not undergone covid in the last six months. The new government proposal is yet to discuss tripartite. According to the War, the ideal option would be testing every three days. The obligation would not apply to employees who do not meet third parties in the workplace, work from home, have had a negative PCR test in the last 72 hours or prove themselves by an antigenic test performed by a medical professional in the last 24 hours. In another mode, health professionals and social workers are tested.

According to the Chamber of Commerce, testing is now logistically demanding. Its spokesman Miroslav Di told ČTK that managing a higher frequency and stopping all employees may be impossible, for example, in companies with thousands of employees. On the contrary, according to the president of the Trade and Tourism Association, Tomáš Prouza, some companies are planning to introduce a similar system, which the government is proposing, as early as January 3. Eva Svobodová, General Director of the Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Self-Employed Persons, stated that testing of all employees will solve complex and legally unquestioned inquiries about the state of vaccination of employees.

The government does not currently plan to continue the Antivirus B program, which is intended to prevent redundancies. Supports for November and December. The Chamber of Commerce expected a step. He believes that a solution can be found for companies affected by anti-epidemic measures, which will not have a very distorting effect on the market and will not jeopardize the consolidation of the state budget. According to the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Marian Jurečka (KDU-ČSL), the Cabinet will try to get the European Commission to approve the kurzarbeit program as soon as possible. He would return to the debate to restore Antivirus B if necessary with regard to the new omicron variant.

The government has agreed to purchase another 14 million antigenic tests for self-testing in schools. They should suffice for testing twice a week, expected in February and March. Pupils, students and school staff will be tested on Mondays and Thursdays during the first 14 days of the new year. The government agreed to purchase tests for this first term at its first meeting on the day of the appointment.

A group of senators led by Jiří Růžička from the STAN club will file a constitutional complaint against the decree on compulsory vaccination, which the former government of Andrej Babiš (ANO) decided to introduce from March 2022 for people over 60 and selected professions. Petr Fiala’s new cabinet (ODS) plans to exclude compulsory vaccinations from the regulation, at least for the elderly. The amendment to the decree will be presented by Válek in the first half of February with knowledge of the development of the epidemic.

The epidemic has been slowing down in the Czech Republic since the end of November. On Tuesday, 9089 confirmed cases of covid came, which was almost a quarter less than a week ago. The number of hospitalized compared to the previous Tuesday few people about 30 percent to 3460, of whom 673 were in serious condition. The so-called incidence number, ie the number of new cases of infection in the last week for every 100,000 inhabitants, continues to fall. To date, it has dropped from 363 to 338 cases on Tuesday.

coronavirus coalition government