Starting today, teachers can receive a free COVID-19 test
Starting today, teachers and educational staff can voluntarily get tested for COVID-19, using antigenic tests. From 18 December, other school employees will also be eligible for free tests within the blanket testing. The testing is free of charge and takes place in specific hospitals and medical facilities in Prague. We bring you an overview of these places below.
"Now that children are gradually returning to their usual school regime, it is necessary to prevent the possible occurrence of the disease, thereby keeping full-time teaching in progress. Teachers can also use the option to get tested for prevention, and the principal is obligated to allow them to do so. We want the senior segment of employees to stay out of danger,”
explained Vít Šimral, Councilor of the Capital City of Prague for Education. According to him, blanket testing can prevent the transmission of the disease, especially to an endangered group of senior teachers.
How will the tests be conducted?
As is common with coronavirus testing, the tests will be conducted via a nasopharyngeal swab. It is necessary to book a date in advance through the reservation system. Upon arrival, a certificate of employment has to be presented.
Free of charge and results within 30 minutes
The wait for test results won't be long. They will be available within thirty minutes from the time when the test was conducted. Teachers and other employees don't have to pay anything for the swab. Antigenic tests are covered by health insurance. All positive and negative antigenic test results will be reported to the Central Register of Infectious Diseases to provide accurate evidence of the occurrence of antigenic positivity in the population.
How is teaching currently conducted?
The Czech Republic hasn't returned to the standard teaching regime yet. Primary schools are attended by first-graders as well as ninth-graders. Secondary school pupils take turns at school according to a rotation system, where half of a class is at school, while the other half is at home on distance learning, and they switch on a weekly basis. The same rules apply to high schools, schools of higher education or conservatories.
Now that the Czech Republic has switched to the third level of the anti-epidemic system, first-year students will return to universities, where full-time teaching will take place in groups of up to twenty students. The possibility of requesting individual consultations still applies.
