Vladimír Leško: Dozens of Roma are returning from the UK to the Ostrava area of the Czech Republic, they and others will be tested for COVID-19

News server Romea.cz has interviewed Vladimír Leško, a Romani community member currently in contact with representatives of the Moravian-Silesian Region who is doing his best to aid them with mapping the situation of families returning to that part of the Czech Republic from England. According to him, currently each returnee will be tested for the virus, but most do not have private accommodation and had been intending to live with relatives.

Leško says that problem is currently being addressed and there is an attempt underway to arrange dignified temporary housing for these individuals so it will be possible for them to comply with quarantine. “Dozens of Romani people are heading for the Ostrava area, above all from Great Britain. Many of them, however, do not have their own apartments in which to undergo quarantine, and for that reason they are staying with their families. That does not seem appropriate to us, though. We want to minimize the opportunity for the infection to spread, and so we have proposed compulsory testing for them combined with the option of spending some time in subsitute accommodation. The conditions apply to all equally,” he explained.