Public health professionals will verify that workers are periodically screened for COVID-19

“Today, specialists from the National Center for Public Health are beginning to verify compliance with the requirements for periodic testing of workers for coronavirus infection. It is planned to inspect more than 230 medical institutions, pharmacies, nursing and support care, educational institutions this week, ”said Justina Petravičienė, NVSC representative, at the BNS.

In late March, the government decided that healthcare workers, education workers, social workers, and pharmacists would have to check for COVID-19 periodically, and vendors, athletes, cultural workers, and hairdressers would have to check first. to start.

“It is in these sectors where workers must be evaluated periodically at least every 7 to 10 days. These are areas where close contacts are unavoidable, so the risk of infection is higher,” said the NVSC representative.

“Regular detection of these groups is a particularly important preventive measure for the early detection of COVID-19 cases, especially asymptomatic ones, and for the prevention of outbreaks,” he added.

The possibility of providing for a mandatory inspection and compensation for it was established at the end of March after the Seimas amended the provisions of the Communicable Diseases Law.

A worker who refuses to verify or fails to do so for very important reasons, depending on the nature of the job, would be assigned to work remotely or transferred to another job at the same workplace.

If such opportunities are not available, you would be removed from work without pay until the day you are checked for a communicable disease.

The amendments also stipulate that when a workplace outbreak is diagnosed, employees can only work after they have been screened for illnesses. The list of personnel to be examined will be determined by the National Center for Public Health.

It also provides that additional medical examinations of employees due to contagious disease can be financed from the state budget in accordance with the procedure established by the Government.