Health Ministry's Special Measures UPDATE02

March 18, 2020  |  Crisis and emergency measures

The government explicitly stated in the Emergency Resolution that the Health Ministry’s existing emergency measures are not to be affected by the state of emergency, which means that they remain valid and must be observed. All the Health Ministry’s special measures introduced valid after the emergency was announced must be observed as well. A brief summary (updated on 18 March 2020) is outlined below.

A) Introduced before the state of emergency was announced

1) No direct flights from regions in Italy

Summary: All air carriers operating direct flights from all airports in the territory of Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont, Lombardy and Veneto in the Republic of Italy with passengers on board to all airports in the territory of the Czech Republic are prohibited.

2) No direct flights from the territory of the Republic of Korea

Summary: All air carriers operating direct flights from all airports in the territory of the Republic of Korea with passengers on board to all airports in the territory of the Czech Republic are prohibited.

3) Prohibition to export all personal hygiene products intended for hand desinfection

Summary: All parties, save for the manufacturers, are prohibited from exporting all personal hygiene products intended for hand disinfection (as specified in the special measure) from the territory of the Czech Republic; this does not apply to a reasonable amount for personal use.

4) No sale of all class FFP3 personal protective equipment (respirators)

Summary: All parties are prohibited from selling all marketed class FFP3 personal protective equipment to parties other than: (i) the Czech Republic and its authorities, agencies and organizational units; (ii) parties that are engaged in the distribution thereof, if they have their registered office in the Czech Republic who may only resell or transfer said personal protective equipment to the parties listed above in line with the special emergency measure.

5) Mandatory identification of individuals who return from the republic of Italy and determination of the mandatory quarantine for these individuals

Summary: All individuals with permanent or temporary (for over 90 days) residence in the Czech Republic or employed in the Czech Republic who return from their journey to Republic of Italy to the Czech Republic on and after 7 March 2020 are required to report such fact immediately upon their arrival to the Czech Republic by telephone or other remote access to their general practitioner or to another general practitioner.

All general practitioners for adults or general practitioners for children and adolescents are required to decide whether to quarantine individuals (who have permanent and temporary (90-day) residence in the Czech Republic or who are employed in the Czech Republic) who, as of 7 March 2020, return from their trip to Italy to the Czech Republic or not for 14 days. This measures do not apply to: (i) freight drivers who transit through Italy or transport, load and unload freight on the territory of Italy, (ii) drivers and crews of the health transport service who carry patients in the territory of Italy (iii) freight plane pilots who do not leave the aircraft with the exception of pre-flight or pre-flight preparation, during transit or return flights.

6) Mandatory quarantine for all individuals who have met an individual infected by the coronavirus

Summary: All general practitioners for adults or general practitioners for children and adolescents are required to decide whether to quarantine (for 14 days) individuals who have been in contact with a patient diagnosed with coronavirus based on a laboratory test.

7) Mandatory examination after returning from high-risk coronavirus areas

All individuals who are not subject to the Health Ministry’s emergency measure of 7 March 2020 (compulsory quarantine after returning from Italy) who have resided in a country with a high risk of coronavirus disease in the last 14 days before arriving in the Czech Republic after crossing the state border of the Czech Republic are required to undergo an examination for symptoms of infectious diseases.

B. Introduced after the state of emergency was announced

8) Restrictions on scheduled treatment

Summary: Emergency in-patient healthcare providers are required to limit scheduled medical care under the Health Services Act to what is strictly necessary, taking into account the health condition of the patients for whom it was scheduled, in order to ensure sufficient capacity (personnel, material and technical) for the treatment of COVD-19 patients.

9) Lab test application form

Summary: The measure imposes obligations on all healthcare providers which are in charge of taking samples for new coronavirus testing and all lab operators which take samples for new coronavirus testing.

10) Recording in-patient positive findings in ISIN

Underlying document: Health Ministry’s special measure of 16 March 2020

Takes effect on:           17 March 2020, 9:00 a.m.

Expires on:      until further notice

Summary: The measure imposes obligations on emergency in-patient healthcare providers.

11) No admittance to selected retail stores for anyone except people over 65

Summary: No individuals other than people over 65 years of age will be admitted to retail stores that carry food, sanitary goods, cosmetics and other sanitary goods, pharmacies and healthcare stores between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. This does not apply to the owners and staff of the stores and individuals in a similar position.

12) Ban on visiting patients in health facilities and persons in social care facilities  

Summary: All providers of bed care health services and all social care facilities are, pursuant to the Social Services Act, prohibited from letting visitors visit patients and residents of the facility (except as provided in the emergency measure).

13) No new patients for spa treatment

Summary: All healthcare providers engaged in spa and rehabilitation care are prohibited from admitting new patients.