The government wants testing in companies twice a week
Updates: 12/29/2021 5:34 PM
Released: 29.12.2021, 15:58
Prague – According to the Minister of Health Vlastimil Válka (TOP 09), the government wants employers to test all their employees twice a week from January 17. According to him, the ideal variant would be testing every three days. According to him, the tripartite proposal is to be discussed only after the ministers have approved it. Válek said this at a press conference today after the government meeting. From January 4, revaccination against covid will be given to all adults after five months.
Currently, you only need to test employees who have not completed vaccinations or have not had covid-19 in half a year. Testing is mandatory once a week.
According to the proposal of the Ministry of Health, which is available to ČTK, testing through self-tests would not apply to employees who do not have contact with third parties at the workplace. Even people who work from home would not have to be tested. The obligation would not apply to those who have had a negative PCR test in the last 72 hours, or have demonstrated a medical condition from the last 24 hours by a negative antigen test. According to the War, the measure would not apply to health professionals and social workers who are being tested in another regime.
Companies should be able to draw a contribution of 60 crowns per test from the health insurance prevention fund. Applications will be able to start on January 1, even in November, and then always retrospectively for the previous month. According to Válka, reimbursement must be approved by the board of directors of insurance companies. However, according to Válek, the directors of the insurance companies agreed with the proposal.
According to Válka, there are eight tests for each employee to be reimbursed in January and six in February. According to Válek, companies should receive payment within a maximum of a month and a half, a shorter interval is not possible, Válek said. According to him, the Ministry of Health has prepared a reporting methodology, records for insurance companies and hygiene should be unified, and fields for completion should be reduced.
The previous government resumed mandatory testing in companies in November to accelerate the spread of coronavirus infection. Employers had to complete the first round of testing by November 29. For example, in stores according to an earlier communication from the Confederation of Trade and Tourism, tests revealed fewer infected than in the spring, tested per mille.
From January 4, there will be revaccination after five months for all adults
From 4 January, all adults will be able to be revaccinated five months after the second dose of covid-19 vaccine. This was announced by the Minister of Health Vlastimil Válek (TOP 09) after today’s government meeting. Until now, people aged 18 to 29 had the opportunity to receive a booster vaccine after six months. Overall, about a third of the 6.8 million people vaccinated so far already have a booster dose of vaccination, which according to experts provides sufficient protection against the serious course of the infection, even with omicron variants.
According to the schedule, it would be fulfilled by the former government that people aged 18 to 35 would not receive it until January 19. The reason for spreading the age categories over time was to protect the vaccination sites from a large onslaught at one time. The new government has already speeded up the vaccination of people aged 30 to 45, who can come for a booster vaccination a month earlier from Monday, December 27.
So far, almost 23,000 of them have done so, the influx of applicants has faced mainly vaccination centers without registration in large cities. More than 100,000 people in this information ministry of health to the strengthening age on Monday and Tuesday registered.
In the last 20 days, healthcare professionals have provided more than a million booster doses of the vaccine. In the first working days after the Christmas holidays, interest grew again, with a total of over 60,000 people vaccinated on Mondays and Tuesdays. But the interest is about a third lower than before the holidays, the holidays and vacations, which people often take between Christmas and New Year, probably also play a role.
According to the day Press Releases about 64.5 percent of the complete Czech population has already been vaccinated or registered for vaccination. Among people over the age of 65 who are more at risk of a serious course of the disease, it is more than 80 percent, and for people over the age of 70 more than 90 percent. Nevertheless, there are more than 131,000 people over the age of 70 who have not been vaccinated or have not yet registered for vaccination.
Adults in their thirties are the least vaccinated. About 62 percent of people aged 30 to 34 have already expressed an interest in vaccinations, and about two percent more between the ages of 35 and 39. Young people aged 16 to 29, who have registered or have already completed vaccination or have already completed almost two thirds, are also more vaccinated. Of the children aged 12 to 15, it is 49 percent, and the youngest vaccinated between the ages of 5 and 11, who last about two weeks, have 1.5 percent.