Educational, healthcare and pharmacy staff to be tested for COVID-19 periodically

Healthcare and educational staff as well as persons providing social services and drugstores’ employees will have to test periodically for COVID-19 in Lithuania whereas salespersons, sportsmen, cultural workers and hairdressers will have to test before resuming work, the government decided on Friday.

With mandatory regular COVID-19 testing for workers of certain areas now inscribed in the Law on the Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases in Humans, the government adopted a list of areas, in which workers would have to test once before resuming work, and another list of areas, in which workers would have to test once in 7 to 10 days.

“Periodic testing will help prevent potential coronavirus outbreaks and will also enable early detection of the cases of infection, in particular symptom-less,” Health Minister Arunas Dulkys said during the government’s meeting.

The lists of workers will have to be compiled by employers who will also have to notify their employees about tests. This procedure will remain in effect until the end of lockdown or the emergency situation.

Employees who have had COVID-19 or have been vaccinated will not be obliged to test if they provide documents to this effect.