According to the latest information, the epidemiological situation in the Czech Republic seems to be on a continuous decline despite the government’s attempts to slow down the spread of COVID-19. Yesterday, a meeting was held where the government discussed tightening the coronavirus measures. According to some sources, the minister of Health, who might be leaving soon, Roman Prymula, also took part in the meeting. As Novinky.cz suggests, it might be his last time.
Several decisions were reached. Starting on Wednesday and lasting till November 3rd, people are banned from leaving their homes from 9 pm till 5 am. Exceptions include going to work, walking a dog (not further than 500 meters from home) and attending urgent matters (going to a hospital). All markets except for the farmer’s ones will be closed. When you visit a local famer’s market, you cannot consume food on the spot. Furthermore, all shops except for petrol stations, restaurants, pharmacies and those shops located at the airports, railway stations or bus stations, will be closed on Sundays. On other days, they will work from 5 am till 8pm. Finally, most employees will be relocated to a remote method of working, shall that be possible.
The Prime Minister, Andrej Babiš, suggested that the situation is not yet improving and that current measures have too many exceptions. Furthermore, a serious problem of the citizens not following the rules makes the situation even harder. Therefore, tighter measures were needed.
“The numbers are catastrophic and the restrictions that we have introduced do not work yet. And a miracle must happen for them to work. The next week will be key. If a miracle does not happen, we will have no choice but to introduce even stricter quarantine measures. Unfortunately, this is the case. I don’t want to promise anything, because I don’t know what will happen with this virus. I don’t know, ” Babiš said, Vinegret.cz reports.
On Tuesday, the government will meet to discuss extending the state of emergency – possibly, till December. If the deputies agree to the extension, the Cabinet will be able to introduce it.
