Doctors Without Borders to assist with COVID-19 care in Czech retirement homes

Prague, Nov 2 (CTK) - The international NGO Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF) has launched a cooperation with the Czech Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Tereza Haniakova from the Czech branch of MSF writes in a press release today.

Under the cooperation, MSF members will help in attempts to curb the COVID-19 epidemic in retirement homes in the Czech Republic.  

MSF workers will offer their experience gained in similar facilities in the worst COVID-19 infected European regions in the spring and help mitigate the effects of coronavirus on the facilities.

Specific facilities will be selected by regional governments and the ministry. It is not clear yet how many of them will accept the MSF offer, project coordinator Jitka Kosikova said.

"The proceedings will be always as follows: from regional authorities, we will get a list of social care facilities that had received the preliminary offer of aid and we will arrange a visit with the facility in question," Kosikova said.

"With its management, we will make an overview of its most urgent needs and try to find solutions and the possibilities of their implementation."

She added that the MSF help is free and voluntary. Currently, the project focuses on supporting particular retirement homes in the Plzen Region and South Bohemia.

Furthermore, the NGO has proposed trainings in work amid the epidemic for social facility managers and senior employees. The trainings elaborate on issues such as anti-epidemic measures, cleaning and disinfection of premises, waste management and personal protective equipment.

MSF staff can also help with setting of quarantine measures concerning COVID-19 positive clients and rules for their potential transport from and into hospitals and other facilities.

MSF aid workers will be tested for coronavirus every week. When visiting facilities, they will observe strict hygienic rules and use protective equipment.