Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has stated that restaurants and other businesses may open on June 14th, albeit under some conditions.
Babiš’s assertion was made in reference to the country’s long-term plan to for COVID-19 restrictions, prepared by chief hygienist Pavla Svrčinová.
“Restaurants and locker rooms at fitness centres will open under clear rules, and cultural events will have a limit on the number attendees: For outside events, 2,000, and for indoor events, 1,000,” the Prime Minister said.
Babiš also added that the government only wants one person for every four square meters at any event, though it is not clear how they plan on enforcing that. Rules for restaurants have not been specified with clarity yet but presumably, there will be a limit on the number of people allowed inside, and in addition, proof of negative tests must be provided upon inspection by government health officials.
Restaurants being able to open up was originally supposed to happen when the number of cases per 100,000 people dipped below 50, which already happened as of May 22. However, the government is still pushing for the June 14th date anyway.
Tomáš Prouza, chairman of the Association of Trade and Tourism, told ČTK that the government is going against its own plan, and said that “This is again just another pulled out of a hat without any sort of explanation.”
Amateur sports are scheduled to open as early as May 31, with 150 attendees allowed for outside events and 75 for indoors.
In his statement posted to Facebook, Babiš threw confetti in the air and announced that by the end of June, almost 6.5 million Czechs will have been injected with their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccines.
