Pupil testing has resumed in schools. The number of infected will increase, experts warn

More than a million elementary and high school students were tested for coronavirus on Monday after returning from vacation. They will be tested twice a week for the first 14 days, even if they have been vaccinated or have experienced covid-19 in the past six months. In two weeks, mandatory testing will also begin in companies. The Ministry of Health decided on this with regard to the expected introduction of the omicron variant.

The first day of school after the Christmas holidays began with testing for all high school and elementary school students. "On the one hand it is annoying, on the other hand we will lose 15 minutes of Czech," said one of the interviewed children. "Every time I wipe my nose, they start sneezing," said another.

"Two children from the whole school dropped out on Monday, which is a good result. We are waiting for what will be more difficult on Thursday, and we are afraid that the number will go up," said Jan Horkel, director of the Pod Žvahovem primary school in Prague.

Schools abound skiers. The problem is testing students during the course

Petr ZapletalP. ZAPLETAL

Children who refuse to test must wear a veil throughout their stay at school, while children over the age of 15 must wear a respirator. When eating, they must sit 1.5 meters away from others and must not practice or sing. If they refuse, they cannot attend full-time classes.

Further testing will take place in schools on Thursday. From January 17, mandatory testing with antigenic tests will also begin in companies, twice a week. "We are deciding whether it will be antigen or PCR tests. We want to have a company that will test our employees at all our operations so that they do not have to commute anywhere," said Patricia Holečková, manager of human resources at Košík.cz.

According to experts, the number of infected can be expected to increase in the coming weeks. In addition, during the Christmas holidays, testing was minimal. "Now it will definitely go up in the coming weeks. Now it will not grow so much in the first wave. In my opinion, the second week of January will show omicron and the increase will be significant," thinks epidemiologist Roman Prymula.

The government is preparing a return of tests in companies. The vaccinated would also have to undergo them

Lucie StaničkováL. STANIČKOVá

People who work from home or do not meet a third party in the workplace do not need to be tested. "Given that the omikron variant is rolling in here, we wanted to test as many people as possible, and we deliberately spread it out over time. We are now dealing with the conditions for testing company employees and discussing it with experts. In terms of tests, we have enough of them. They were provided by both the Ministry of Education and the State Material Reserves, "said Ondřej Jakob, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health.

So far, there is talk that companies will arrange the testing themselves and the state will then contribute 60 crowns to each test. The government will decide on the exact conditions on Wednesday.

According to the president of the Czech Medical Chamber Milan Kubek, are the existing anti-epidemic measures sufficient? Take a look at the interview: