There is a legal gap that, in theory, fosters the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) among employees of Transylvania Airport in Marosvásárhely/Târgu Mureș, the head of the airport’s trade union highlighted.
According to a public letter penned by Emil György, an employee’s father was infected with Sars-CoV-2, so he was ordered to stay in home isolation for 14 days. For now, he is asymptomatic – just like the other employees of Transylvania Airport; however, he and his colleagues would like to know whether he contracted the novel coronavirus or not.
The employee requested a test from the Department of Public Health Marosvásárhely/Târgu Mureș but was told that the test not possible on-demand unless he has symptoms. On the other hand, the airport’s leadership is ready to cover the cost of the test, but private labs don’t provide testing services in homes. Meanwhile, the employee is forced by law to respect the home isolation rules, which is equivalent to quarantine (he can’t leave his home for 14 days). All of this means that Transylvania Airport employees have been left in a state of uncertainty.
Emil György considers this situation revolting, as they need to wait for someone to show symptoms to know whether the novel coronavirus has made its way into the community or not. According to his letter, in Iasi, every employee was tested after the director of the airport was diagnosed with COVID-19, and the results were positive for six employees.
“The department will test direct contacts of an infected COVID-19 patient only if they have symptoms,” Iuliu Moldovan, Director of the Department of Public Health Marosvásárhely/Târgu Mureș told Székelyhon. According to the Ministry of Health’s Decree 807, the Department of Public Health is not required to test direct contacts of a coronavirus patient; instead, it will issue a home isolation order for these contacts, which is valid for 14 days. After two weeks, if they don’t have COVID-19 symptoms, they are free to leave their location.
Title image: Transylvania Airport. Image source: The airport’s Facebook page
