Health minister: respirators should not be compulsory anywhere in May

Health Minister Vlastimil Válek has indicated that he is prepared to do away with compulsory respirators in hospitals and care homes –the last places where they are still required -at the end of April.

The health minister is moreover hoping that the government will not have to make respirators compulsory in the autumn when the country is likely to be hit by another wave of the Covid pandemic.

Although Covid numbers have been dropping in recent weeks, samples of sewage water indicate a high viral load among the population and epidemiologists say that another wave of the epidemic is almost certain to come in the autumn.

Minister Valek told the daily Lidove noviny that in the event of another wave the government’s priority would be to vaccinate high-risk groups of the population combined with a recommendation for people to wear respirators in crowded places.