The Czech Republic will roll out a program of home-testing for people with symptoms of coronavirus. The idea is to reduce the risk of spreading the infection on public transport and in hospitals by sending specially equipped teams to potential virus victims. The program will be introduced in Prague today but should be operational nationwide by the end of the week, according to the Ministry of Health.
Meanwhile, businesses in the Czech Republic are responding in various ways to the threat but the most common policy is asking employees returning from vacations in Italy to remain at home for two weeks. Sebastien Dejanowski of Mint Investments says he asked a member of his team to remain on home office following a recent skiing trip in northern Italy. “It you don’t apply this policy I think you’re not managing your risks responsibly,” he said pointing out that employees should feel safe in the workplace. Mint’s property management team is running hygiene campaigns at the buildings it runs and discussing the situation with tenants.
The Czech office of the law firm CMS published a brief report on employer recommendations and duties. This included thinking carefully before deciding not to pay staff whose responsibilities can only be carried out at the workplace. “Whilst agreeing to pay staff who are unable to work may appear cost prohibitive, this needs to be weighed against the adverse reputational risk of being seen to punish those who self-isolate,” wrote CMS. It also pointed out that such a policy could lead staff members not to reveal where they’d been on vacation or other potential risks. There are currently 5 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Czech Republic, all of which have been linked to recent travels.
