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Furthermore, under the current procedure, even if the child has been assigned self-isolation, but the school has not been instructed to take special measures to control the infection, sickness benefit would not be paid to the parents. It is true that they could obtain a certificate of incapacity for work to care for an isolated child.
Advertise isolation, although not necessary
The first cases in which educational institutions independently decide to isolate some classes were registered as early as September. Here it is on September 3. The National Public Health Center (NVSC) announced that it had received information that several classes were isolated in a school in the Raseiniai district, although the Covid-19 case was not recorded here and epidemiologists did not give any recommendation to this educational institution. .
“One of the students for whom COVID-19 was not approved was found to have had contact with an infected person. This means that all students and teachers are treated as a so-called contact and are not isolated because they have not been in contact with a sick coronavirus at all, ”said the NVSC.
The number of educational institutions that are starting to use distance learning on their own due to concerns about the coronavirus, Health Minister Aurelijus Veryga said at a press conference on Thursday.
However, in such cases, the NVSC stresses, parents with children at home will not be granted the benefit for incapacity for work or illness.
“NVSC notes that isolation due to exposure can only be prescribed by NVSC specialists after individual risk assessment. This means that if, for example, a child was isolated without NVSC instruction and his parents cared for him at home, there would be no reason to issue such a certificate of incapacity for work to those parents, ”the experts warned.
Meanwhile, getting lost in the ranks of parents: when is it really possible to become unable to work if you need to care for a child?
The school must coordinate the decision with the municipality and the NVSC
SADM also confirms that parents would suffer if the school decides to switch to distance education on its own. According to the answers provided by Delfi, such measures can be taken by the educational institution only in coordination with the municipality or after receiving instructions from the NVSC.
“A regime or epidemic that restricts the spread of infections is announced by the municipalities on the recommendation of the National Center for Public Health after evaluating the morbidity indicators. When said regime is announced in the municipality, the administration of the school and kindergarten, in coordination with the municipality, may decide to temporarily suspend educational activities in several or all classes.
If there is no advertised regime that restricts the spread of infections or, in other words, an epidemic, and the educational institution has independently decided to work remotely, then the disability to work for healthy child care is not issued and is not paid sickness benefit ”, the Ministry responded.
In other words, if a school decides to isolate or apply distance learning to some or all of the classes and children cannot stay home alone, parents should make sure who decides to do it. If neither the municipality nor the NVSC has given such an instruction to the educational institution, the parents should not agree to these rules.
Meanwhile, if a special regime is announced at the school due to the real threat of the spread of the coronavirus and students have to switch to distance education, parents can obtain certificates of disability for the care of children of a certain age.
“If a school is advertised to restrict the spread of infections, parents of preschool, preschool and primary-age children, caregivers can receive sickness and work disability benefit for the care of a healthy child for up to 14 calendar days “, reports the Ministry of Social Affairs.
The parental sickness benefit would also be paid if the child is confirmed to have coronavirus.
“When a child becomes infected with COVID-19 or develops a disease, the child’s working parents, guardians, and grandparents can receive a sickness and disability benefit to care for a child under 14 years of age for up to 14 calendar days, “explain SADM’s responses.
The benefit may not be paid to the parents of all isolated children.
There is another nuance that it would be helpful for all parents to know during a pandemic. The Ministry of Social Affairs informs that in case the minor is required to be isolated, but special measures are not applied due to coronavirus at school, the parents may receive work disability for the offspring, but they will not be paid for it.
“If the child is not sick and the school has not announced a regime that restricts the spread of infections, but the National Center for Public Health is isolating the child, then child care may result in inability to work, but Sodra would not currently pay. sickness benefits, “said the Ministry of Social Affairs.
The Ministry assures that it is planned to modify this procedure as a matter of urgency. If this were done, the money would now be transferred after the changes to parents who are now in this situation and cannot receive isolated child care benefits. It is true that even urgent changes may have to wait a few weeks.
“We plan to adopt amendments to the Social Security Maternity and Sickness Act as a matter of urgency so that working parents, guardians and grandparents can receive sickness benefit for up to 14 calendar days after the isolation of a preschool-age child. , preschool or primary. Sickness benefits will also be offered for the current period before the changes take effect, “the ministry reported.
Isolation applies to people at high risk
The NVSC recalls that a person who has been in contact with an infected person for less than 15 minutes for more than 15 minutes or who has had direct physical contact, such as shaking hands with a person with a coronavirus infection, is considered high risk (close contact with COVID-19).
Exposure is also considered high-risk if a person has been in direct contact without protective measures with body fluids contaminated with COVID-19. In general, if the patient had a face, the tissues used in the COVID-19 kit were touched with bare hands, etc.
Additionally, being in a confined space with a person with COVID-19 for more than 15 minutes is considered a high-risk contact. This means that if, for example, a person has been infected in one of the meeting rooms without properly wearing personal protective equipment, their former colleagues are considered to be at high risk.
NVSC specialists remind that high-risk people should isolate themselves, monitor their health and, in case of symptoms, contact the Corona Hotline for a PCR test for coronavirus infection. Importantly, not all high-risk people are screened, depending on the spread of infection in a particular outbreak.
At that time, a person who had been in contact with an infected coronavirus for more than 15 minutes at a distance of more than 2 meters was considered to have had a low-risk exposure or, more generally, an accidental exposure. The same condition applies to both indoor and outdoor contact. Also, if, for example, a person rode a trolley bus with an infected person, wore protective gear, and got off the trolley after 10 minutes, such exposure will be considered low risk.
Low-risk people are not isolated, they, like all Lithuanians, must monitor their health and follow COVID-19 prevention measures.
The number of cases in schools is increasing
On Thursday, cases of coronavirus were registered in 21 educational institutions. Of these, 2 educational institutions are preschool. 25 cases: sick minors and 7 officials.
A total of 318 people are isolated from educational institutions. According to the NVSC, no infections were recorded at the educational institution itself: all coronavirus cases were recorded at family access points.
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