Today, the Czech Supreme Administrative court has ruled that parts of the Covid-19 emergency measures, designed by the Ministry of Health, have to be abolished. The section that was deemed improper was mainly concerned with mandatory testing for the virus in companies with less than 10 employees and even the self-employed.
This court has held many of the recent decisions of the Ministry of Health under close scrutiny. However, the emergency measures regarding the testing of employees have usually survived this process. In its rulings from April, the Czech Supreme Administrative court has stated that ‘In the situation that prevailed in the Czech Republic at the beginning of March, the regulation of testing employees of large and medium-sized companies was completely defensible.’
It is only now that the court has decided that while testing in big companies has eased the pressure on the front-line workers, the reason for mandatory testing of small work groups and individuals was poorly explained by the Ministry of Health, and has to stop being mandatory. Nevertheless, the timing of this decision makes the court’s ruling largely symbolic, as some of the current restrictions, including mandatory testing, end on Wednesday June 30th regardless.
Daniel Howard
