The Czech lower house on Wednesday approved giving the government an extension of state of emergency powers to December 23, a shorter period than the cabinet sought as it looks to contain rising COVID-19 infections. Daily COVID-19 case tallies are increasing again in the central European country that was among the worst hit in Europe in the autumn. The uptick comes just a week after the government eased some of its restrictions, allowing shops and restaurants to open their doors for the first time since October. The state of emergency is the legal basis for some government measures being used to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, such as limits on assembly or temporarily shutting businesses. PM Andrej Babis’ government had asked for a 30-day extension beyond the current period’s expiry on Dec. 12. A shorter extension put forward by the far-left Communist party, which props up Babis’ minority government, won enough votes. Infections have steadily increased, with the seven-day rolling average rising in the past week. Hospitalisations are above 4,300, also ticking up after steadily falling from a peak of more than 8,000 in early November. Health officials reported 5,848 new infections on Tuesday, the highest since November...
“You still don’t know what to give for Christmas? As a present, a government bond will not only please the recipient but also value your savings.” The Minister of Finance has shared a video with a bizarre recommendation on her Facebook and Twitter accounts. “Christmas is just around the corner, so many of you are thinking about what to put under the tree for your loved ones. If you don’t know yet, I have a tip for you. And don’t worry, it’s not socks, but a bond of the Czech Republic,” she says in the video. At the same time, she advised against using this as a romantic gift: “Gentlemen, I would rather recommend something more personal for your dear halves,” she addressed Czech men. “Bonds are more suitable for parents or friends,” she added. According to the official website of the ministry, accumulative government bonds for 100,000 CZK will bring their owner 6151 CZK in six years
The Czech Republic will not raise its PES score despite the number of new COVID-19 cases slowly growing again, which would lead to the reintroduction of some countermeasures. The only changes that the Czech Republic will see as a result of the epidemiological situation getting worse, are the restrictions on opening hours of restaurants as well as some other minor measures. Food caterings Restaurants, bars, clubs, restaurants in hotels, and similar establishments, including dispensing windows, must not be open after 8 pm. Alcohol The consumption of alcohol in public will be banned, as well as the sale of alcohol at markets. Shops and services For shops and services, nothing will change. The night curfew will not be renewed either, even though the last three days the score in the anti-epidemic system PES reached the fourth level. A proposed amendment to the crisis law envisages raising the fine for individuals from 10 to 50,000 CZK and setting a ceiling of 3 million for legal entities. The government decided to extend the state of emergency by a further 30 days, to January 11th. The request will be submitted to the Chamber of Deputies for approval. The cabinet will also discuss measures needed to open ski resorts this month....
Europe’s first ‘beer hotel’ will open early next year in the Czech Republic. The hotel in Nepomuk (Plzeň Region) features a beer tap in each room and a beer spa, where you can submerge yourself in baths of beer. This is the second of its kind, with the first one opening in Ohio, USA. The idea was pursued by the head of the Zlatá kráva brewery, Radovan Sochor, who also runs the hotel which operates above the beer cellars. “When inventing the name of our brewery, we were inspired by the farm that our family owns and where we raise cattle,” says Sochor. “The concept of the entire hotel, which combines farm and beer themes, is in a similar spirit. It has fourteen rooms and each of them is named after one of the beers in our menu. And all rooms have their own bar.” The Sochor family built this beer hotel for about ten million CZK in the building of a former brewery, which operated from 1870 to 1932. They received a 45 per cent subsidy from the Ministry of Agriculture for agritourism and business development. The official opening is planned on February 1. “Vouchers have already being bought,” said...
The Ministry of Finance and the Czech National Bank will recommend to the government not to set a date for the adoption of the euro. The decision is based on information contained in this year’s “Assessment of the Fulfilment of the Maastricht Convergence Criteria and the Degree of Economic Alignment of the Czech Republic with the Euro Area”. It is the same advice the two institutions gave the government in the past years. The government of PM Andrej Babis (ANO) had indicated that it was not planning to adopt the euro currency during the current mandate. This year’s document states that the Czech Republic will this year most probably fulfill only one of the Maastricht convergence criteria – the criterion on long-term interest rates – in the unprecedented conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic and the related global economic downturn. The Czech Republic will not meet the criterion of sustainability of public finances due to the public finance deficit. It should exceed six percent of GDP. The reason is the effects of the pandemic and the related increase in this year’s budget deficit to 500 billion CZK. Moreover, the country report one of the highest inflation rates in the EU and...
The Czech government on Monday evening decided to shorten the opening hours of restaurants, bars, and dispensing windows in response to the increasing COVID-19 cases. As iDNES.cz reports, starting from Wednesday, December 9th, restaurants, bars, and dispensing windows throughout the country must close at 8 p.m, said Health Minister Jan Blatný. However, there are no plans to tighten measures in the coming days, he added. On Monday, the government decided to extend the state of emergency for another 30 days. According to the minister, the dispensing windows should be closed along with the restaurant. “Even though the ban on sales and consumption was in place, some restaurants sold alcohol and people consumed it,” the minister explained. Deputy Prime Minister Jan Hamáček does not expect the cabinet to further tighten measures against the spread of coronavirus. “If the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise, the government would have just to adjust the measures.” Hamáček added that Thursday’s loosening has so far been too short to affect the epidemic’s statistics. “If the numbers are growing, it’s a reaction to something that happened 10 or 14 days ago,” he said. Since last Thursday, when shops and restaurants reopened, the PES risk score...
According to Minister of Health Jan Blatný, the Czech government hopes to vaccinate 5.5 million people by the end of summer 2021. “If everything goes as planned, the vaccination of about 5.5 million people, which is about 60-70 percent of the adult population, should be completed at the end of next summer,” the minister said. So far, the government has provided for the vaccination of 5.5 million people, which will cost some 3.4 billion CZK. They can still order vaccinations for up to 10.6 million more people as well. So far, no vaccine has been officially approved in the EU, so Czechia has ordered doses from several manufacturers. The vaccination of all Czechs could cost up to 5 billion korunas (€187.7 million) if two doses are needed. The minister confirmed to the deputies that the strategy first plans for the vaccination of people over 60 years of age, those most at risk, people with chronic diseases, and healthcare workers on the front line, which represents thousands to tens of thousands of people. They will receive their dose at a vaccination center or their GP. The vaccine will be paid for via public health insurance, and vaccination will not be compulsory. It...
Saint Nicholas day took on some new twists for celebrating Czechs on Saturday, from drive-through visits to kitting his accompanying angels and devils out in gloves and masks so that they could hand out treats. The Czech version of the holiday includes Saint Nicholas visiting with an angel and devil to reward well-behaved children with sweets and less angelic ones with a lump of coal or a potato. But rules limiting social contact due to the COVID-19 pandemic meant the usual custom of costumed trios roaming Czech neighbourhoods to greet children was given a make-over. At one outdoor site on the top level of a shopping mall parking lot, horned devils danced around a car to scare the children inside before an angel swept with a bag of sweets. The Czech government advised families to scale back or even forego the holiday as social distancing rules require masks to be worn inside and no large gatherings outdoors. After curbing one of Europe’s fastest spreads of coronavirus, and despite fears the re-opening could lead to a surge of infections, Czechs cooped up for weeks headed eagerly out to shops, hairdressers, restaurants and pubs allowed to open with capacity requirements this week....
The Czech Ministry of Health said that the PES risk score increased by seven points, from 57 to 64. As iDNES.cz reports, this number corresponds to the fourth level in the coronavirus emergency system. The government could be forced to tighten the preventive measures if this number does not decrease in the next three days. “The increase was due to two factors: an increase in the share of positive cases and especially an increase in the reproductive number above one,” added the Ministry of Health. On Sunday, there were 3,308 confirmed new coronavirus cases in the Czech Republic, 641 more than a week ago, Ministry of Health data show. The PES is calculated from the reproduction number (now at 1.02), the rate of positive test results over the past seven days, the total number of cases, and those among seniors. The new data changed the scores in several regions. For example, in the Ústí region it rose from 69 to 76 points. The decrease is recorded in the Vysočina region, where the score decreased from 62 to 57. The index in the Moravian-Silesian Region remained the same as on Saturday at 66. The same score is registered in the Olomouc...
Czech police found several restaurants and bars that were open after 22:00 this Friday, violating the government order. Health Minister Jan Blatny labeled this behavior as “unacceptable” and “irresponsible”. According to Blatny, “the Czech Republic is on the border between the third and fourth PES level, and if the situation worsens, there is a risk that restaurants and bars will have to close again”. “The exact number of violations, as well as how exactly the measures were violated, will become known only after the weekend,” said a spokeswoman for the Czech police, Kateryna Rendlova. “Unfortunately, some restaurant and club operators are very irresponsible. In many cases, police officers found catering establishments that were open after 22:00. Club owners closed their facilities after a police warning only to reopen once law enforcement left the scene.” On Friday, the Health Minister described the epidemic situation as “very fragile”. “I don’t want to scare our citizens, but we are still on the borderline between the third and fourth level.” In October, Prague officers discovered dozens of people beneath a restaurant on Vodičková Street. The restaurant was found to be closing its front doors and moving the clientele downstairs once the curfew kicked in...
One of the fastest-growing categories on the online supermarket Rohlik.cz is coffee. Sales grew 1.5 times faster during the spring and autumn corona crisis than for the same period. “For us, our cooperation with Rohlik.cz is a pilot project on the territory of the Czech Republic to expand our sales channels. What we want is for the customer to be able to order choice Nespresso capsules with home delivery within just 120 minutes, with a delivery accuracy of 15 minutes,” said Nespresso’s Marketing Manager Andrea Petrová about the cooperation. Thus, the key benefit of cooperating with Rohlik.cz is the delivery of an order to a customer within 2 hours of ordering and the simultaneous collection of used capsules for recycling. Moreover, members of the loyalty program Nespresso & You don’t lose any of the advantages through buying capsules on Rohlik.cz – since the cooperation also includes earning points on the customer’s Nespresso account for each purchase. “We are delighted with the cooperation with the Nespresso brand. And there are several reasons. Through it we will expand the premium selection of high-quality coffee that our customers will be able to order along with other items from the Rohlik.cz range, that means...
On Friday, the Czech Coal Commission recommended ending the use of coal in 2038. NGOs warned that any coal exit later than 2030 would inevitably have to be accelerated anyway to secure a robust EU climate target to which Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš recently committed. “When deciding on the date of the end of coal, the coal commission did not take into account the potential of renewable energy sources that we have in the Czech Republic,” says Alexander Ač, a climatologist and member of the Shadow Coal Commission. Activists and youth organization members have been occupying the Czech Ministry of the Environment since November 16, demanding a coal phaseout by 2030 at the latest. Currently, coal plants generate around 50% of electricity in the Czech Republic. However, according to Czech environmental NGO Hnutí Duha, it is possible to shut down all coal plants by 2030. This is feasible and necessary due to the EU’s ambitious climate goals for 2030, but also because of the expected significant rise in price of allowances under the EU’s emission trading system, the NGO argues. EMBER, BloombergNEF, Energynautics, and McKinsey all recently published studies presenting different possible phaseout scenarios for the Czech Republic, demonstrating...
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