MU employees are now required to report potential exposure in the Prevention app
A new internal application for employees will help identify people who may have been exposed to the coronavirus at
work. The aim of this app is to lower the spread of COVID-19 at Masaryk University. All employees will find the
Prevention app in INET and the Employee Portal. Based on Decision of the Rector No. 9/2020, all employees are
required to use this app to report having been in contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus,
having tested positive themselves, or having experienced COVID-19 symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of
breath, sore throat, or headache. Employees must also enter any changes in their situation in the app.
“The current trajectory of the epidemiological situation indicates that time is of the utmost importance for reducing
the spread. Because the public health offices are overwhelmed with contact tracing, we have decided to introduce
our own system, which has the potential to be even faster and will help prevent the spread of the disease
throughout our university”, says Radim Polčák, MU vice-rector for legal and policy affairs, information technologies
and corporate relations.
He emphasises that any data an employee enters into the app will be confidential and accessible only to MU’s crisis
manager, Sabina Grossová; the head of the Technical Operations Office, Tomáš Říha; the relevant faculty COVID
coordinator; and the person’s direct supervisor.
A person who has spent time in the same room as an employee who has come into contact with someone who may
have been exposed to the coronavirus or who may be infectious will receive a notification in INET. Any contacts
that are traced to an employee who may have been exposed will either see the name of the employee or receive an
anonymous notification, based on the employee’s app settings. Every employee can change the app settings so
they receive notifications of any possible exposure via email.
“The COVID coordinator at the faculty in question will determine the seriousness of the threat. If the coordinator
does not contact a ‘traced’ employee in a timely fashion, then the contact was most likely not epidemiologically
significant”, says Kateřina Kvítková, head of the Legal Office of the Rector’s Office, emphasising that such
employees still need to follow further recommendations.
If they have no symptoms of a viral infection, they should continue to wear a face mask or respirator that covers
their mouth and nose, avoid being in large groups unnecessarily, keep a safe distance of approximately two metres
from others, wash their hands frequently and thoroughly or use disinfectant, and regularly disinfect personal items
such as mobile phones.
If an employee has symptoms of the disease, which may show up 2 to 14 days after being in contact with an
infected person, they should stay home, call their general practitioner, and enter information about their symptoms
and contacts in the Prevention app. Masaryk University also recommends its employees use the nationwide erouška
application and follow measures put in place by the government.
If a person has been in contact with someone who has tested positive, they must go into quarantine for ten days
after being in contact. Between the fifth and seventh days they should be tested. If they do not manage to get tested
and have no symptoms, their quarantine period will end 14 days after being exposed to the coronavirus. If any
symptoms do appear, they should get tested immediately.
If a person tests positive for coronavirus, they must self-isolate for ten days. If they test positive and have
symptoms, the minimum self-isolation period is ten days. After this period is up and once symptoms subside, they
must stay in isolation for at least three more days. People who have tested positive no longer have to take a second
test.
Today, it is important to behave considerately, at even the slightest sign of illness make sure to strictly follow all
basic hygienic rules, and, if possible, stay at home until symptoms go away.
Detailed information about quarantine regulations and other epidemiological measures can be found on the
websites of the Ministry of Health and the South Moravian Regional Public Health Office (in Czech only).