Hygienists in Prague no longer trace, they have a standard inspection plan like before covid
Covid-19 is already a standard infectious disease. Illustration photo: CareAtya / Wikimedia Commons – CC BY-SA 4.0
Prague hygienists have returned to all their activities, which they did not have much time for due to the covid-19 epidemic, and they have a standard inspection schedule. The tracing of the infected, which has been employed in the last two years, is no longer being done at the moment. In connection with covid, as with other infectious diseases, I mainly deal with outbreaks, for example in homes for the elderly. This was stated by Zbyněk Boublík, the spokesperson of the hygiene station of the capital city, when asked by ČTK.
“Hygienic Station of the Capital City of Prague (HSHMP) is already dedicated to all its legal regulations and given activities as standard. The basis of the work is thus the standard annual inspection plan,” he said.
According to the Public Health Act, hygienists check, for example, food establishments, dangerous products, school facilities, children’s summer camps in the summer or the quality of bathing water.
“Today, Covid-19 is already a standard infectious disease in the activities of the locally and materially competent public health protection authority, which is brought to the fore as stipulated by the relevant legal regulations, the law and decrees,” he added.
The first three cases of covid appeared in the Czech Republic on March 1, 2020, Prague hygienists were investigating the contacts of those living in Prague and identified persons who might have been infected and had to undergo a PCR test.
With the growing number of cases, contact tracing was also developed, from April 2020 it was part of the Smart Quarantine system, and in addition to hygienists, external call centers or telephone operators from the ranks of officials, police officers and other state employees were also involved.
Last published data about tracing from the Smart Quarantine are from May 5 this year, hygienists dealt with 363 infected people.
Overall, since the beginning of the epidemic according to that ministry the healthcare system infected more than 606,000 residents of Prague. In the last week, there were approximately 720 positive tests in Prague, approximately 54 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, which is roughly the tenth worst place among the 70 former districts. But experts point out that very few people take the tests.
“Individual cases are no longer tracked, HSHMP employees are exclusively dedicated to solving disease outbreaks, for example in homes for the elderly,” explained Boublík. He considers better IT equipment and a higher degree of cooperation between the individual departments of the stations to be positive things that the epidemic has brought to hygienists.
“The Covid pandemic represented a historic record and indeed extremely high workload for the employees of not only the Prague hygiene station,” added Boublík.
Work stress played a role in several departures of experienced employees, he said. According to him, however, vacant positions are being filled. “Compared to other regions, there is still great competition on the labor market in Prague among a wide range of employers,” he added.
According to an earlier statement by the Minister of Health Vlastimil Válek (TOP 09), the operation of hygiene stations will undergo changes in the coming years. This year, long-term jobs were added, and next year, each regional branch should save several jobs, but not specialist jobs, according to Válek.
Next year, the ministry wants to submit an amendment to the Act on the Protection of Public Health, which is intended, among other things, to eliminate the differences between their decision-making and functioning. At the end of November, Válek stated that some have more drivers or company cars for the same number of employees.
According to Válk, the Ministry of Health also wants to centralize some of the operational agendas of hygiene stations, for example submitting applications for European subsidies. The plan also includes greater digitization of their activities and greater connection with the State Health Institute (SZÚ).