Until this Friday, the current government restrictions make it illegal to not wear a respirator inside buildings and in public transport. This Tuesday, this government decision was overruled by the Czech Supreme Administrative Court. In its press report on the decision, the court described that the implementation of this set of restrictions was not sufficiently justified. Especially the fact that wearing respirators is mandatory for everyone, regardless of their health status. The court gave the government 3 days to generate a response to the ruling. However, it warned that this is the last time the current government will get such forgiving treatment. According to the Czech Supreme Administrative Court, its decisions are being systematically ignored by the government. This is probably a reference to the many warnings it gave about this set of restrictions to the government prior to the official decision, all of which were ignored. Thus the court announced that next time there is a decision against the government’s restrictions, it will come into effect immediately. The government’s reply to this was neither apologetic nor aggressive. The Ministry of Health simply replied that it respects the decision and will fix the wording of the documents justify the restriction in the next three days. The spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, Gabriela Štepanyová, insisted that it is essential that the wearing of respirators in the aforementioned spaces remains mandatory.
