Czech Republic to distribute face masks and respirators to the disabled

Prague, Sept 14 (CTK) – The Czech state will distribute face masks and respirators to 170,000 people on full disability pension and 17,000 disabled people under 18 due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the cabinet decided today, cited by Social Affairs Minister Jana Maláčová.

Based on the cabinet’s previous decision, Czech Post will start delivering the protective means to all seniors over 60, about three million people in total, on Tuesday. Each recipient will get one respirator and five face masks. Senior citizens will receive the consignment in the mail boxes in their place of permanent residence.

“The cabinet has approved my proposal that protective equipment be distributed to handicapped people. Face masks and respirators will therefore go to 170,000 people with the highest disability degree and 17,000 people with a health handicap who are aged under 18,” Maláčová (Social Democrats, CSSD) said.

The cabinet is to fine-tune the plan at its meeting on Wednesday, like Education Minister Robert Plaga’s (ANO) proposal to supply protective means to teachers and the non-teaching staff at schools.

“The minister has proposed that 620,000 respirators be provided [for schools] in the yellow [increased infection risk] districts,” his spokeswoman Aneta Lednova said.

Deputy PM Karel Havlíček (for ANO) told a press conference that there are 44.5 million face masks and 5.2 million FFP2 respirators in depositories operated by the State Material Reserves Administration (SSHR) now, apart from those individual ministries have secured by themselves, and further equipment would be bought.

The government said in mid-May it planed to buy, via the SSHR, millions of pieces of protective medical equipment worth 3.7 billion crowns. The stock should be enough for ministries and their subordinate institutions and organisations, and also for self-ruled regions, for two months.