Compulsory vaccination is a topic that is currently dividing the Czech society into two sides, namely those who are for and those who are against it. Czech President Milos Zeman spoke out in favour of mandatory vaccinations against Covid-19 during his traditional Christmas address. He said he had initially been skeptical about the idea, but given repeated new waves of infection, he said he had changed his mind. Zeman said he had ultimately been swayed by Austria, which has decreed vaccination compulsory as of February 2022. A survey conducted by the Median agency suggests that just over half of Czechs (51 percent) agree with the introduction of compulsory vaccination for selected groups or people in high-risk professions. Those in favor are generally people over the age of 65, who live in bigger cities (with more than 100,000 inhabitants) and have a higher education. 47 percent of respondents are against and two percent are undecided. “According to the survey, mainly SPD voters and students are against mandatory vaccination. In contrast, forty-seven percent of people are against compulsory vaccination,” said Přemysl Čech, director of the Median agency. At the beginning of December, the Czech Health Ministry prepared a decree making COVID-19 vaccines...
The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday said it condemned a Russian court decision to shut down the country’s oldest human rights group, Memorial International, and is following with concern Russia’s ongoing efforts to close sister organization Memorial Human Rights Center. “We urge Russian authorities to end their harassment of independent voices and human rights defenders and stand in solidarity with those who have been targeted for repression for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly”. Memorial has highlighted repressions against civil society and the absence of an independent judiciary in the Russian Federation, as well as exposing the murders of millions of Soviet citizens and foreigners, including several thousand Czechs, the statement says. The decision triggers the closure of “Memorial International Historical, Educational, Charitable, and Human Rights Society, its regional branches and other structural units,” said Judge Alla Nazarova, according to the Interfax news agency. Founded in the late 1980s by Andrei Sakharov and other Soviet-era dissidents, the group took the new freedoms offered under Mikhail Gorbachev and used them to reveal raw truths about the fate of millions of victims of Stalin’s repressions. It was a poignant symbol of Russia’s new openness, but for...
If your day doesn’t start until you’re up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to our new morning fix. Bolt will expand its fast grocery service to the Czech Republic by January after entering the booming business of couriering drinks and snacks to users earlier this year. It will face competition from local rivals like Rohlik, and Wolt. Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, who will come to Prague on Thursday, will be the first foreign guest whom new Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky will receive in his seat in the Czernin Palace. They will talk about the relations between the two countries and preparation for the Czech presidency of the Council of the European Union. Health workers administered more than one million booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine in Czechia in the last 20 days. More than 9,300 people aged from 30 to 44 received the booster shot on Monday. Poland hopes to make progress in negotiations with the new Czech government over the open-pit lignite Turow mine near the border, Poland’s prime minister said on Tuesday, referring to the most serious spat between the two European Union members in decades. Czech...
The construction of the first part of a new “D” line of the Prague Metro system will start in 2022. The line – which will feature driverless trains – will at first run from Pankrác to the as yet unbuilt Depo Písnice station in the south of the city before being extended later. At the first stage, the metro will be built between the stations Pankrác and Nove Dvory, then it will continue to Depo Písnice, and in the future, from Pankrac to Namesti miru. Largest transport investment in the country According to the City of Prague, the estimated total costs for this ambitious project will amount to approximately 52 billion CZK (EUR 2 billion). Commenting on this large sum, Deputy Mayor of Prague for transport Adam Scheinherr shared: “Metro D is currently the largest transport investment in the Czech Republic. The first section of metro D from Pankrác to Nové Dvory will cost CZK 52 billion and we will have large negotiations on financing – with banks, the EU, and the state, which normally co-finances such important urban projects abroad. I am glad that today we have won the trust of Prague’s representatives across political parties for this huge...
The Czech Republic has got a very rich history full of traditions that carry on to today.
Czech vets are due to cull 80,000 hens at a farm where over 100,000 animals have died of bird flu since late last week, the state veterinary office said Tuesday. The farm in Libotenice, about 45 kilometres (28 miles) north of Prague, had a total of 188,000 hens before Christmas. “The culling of hens from halls affected by bird flu is underway,” said State Veterinary Administration spokesman Petr Majer. “The numbers show that this strain, the highly pathogenic H5N1, is very aggressive and kills hens in particular fast and on a mass scale,” he added. He said vets would also destroy over a million eggs from the farm. The Czech Republic has registered 48 outbreaks of bird flu this year, the highest number in a calendar year in history. The disease is currently plaguing Europe, with France reporting an outbreak in its foie gras producing Landes region last week. A bird flu outbreak in northern Israel has killed at least 5,200 migratory cranes and forced farmers to slaughter hundreds of thousands of chickens as authorities try to contain what they say is the deadliest wildlife disaster in the nation’s history. So far no human transmission has been reported, according to the prime minister’s office.
Laboratories in the Czech Republic registered 6,850 new cases of Covid 19 on Monday, the lowest number on weekdays since October 29. However, the number of tests conducted was also significantly lower, according to data released by the Ministry of Health. About 47,000 PCR tests and over 19,000 antigenic tests were performed, almost two-fifths less than a week ago. Compared to the previous week, the number of hospitalizations also fell by a third to 3,505, with 687 in a critical condition. The incidence number is now at 363 per 100,000 inhabitants. The spread of covid-19 has been slowing for about a month. At the end of November, the daily number of new infections reached almost 28,000, the highest increase in the entire epidemic. The number of new cases in the last seven days per 100,000 inhabitants, ie the so-called incidence number, has also been falling for about three weeks. As of Tuesday, it decreased from Monday’s 379 to 363. The coronavirus death toll in the Czech Republic has reached 35,911. Vaccination began last December 27 and approximately 15.3 million doses of vaccine have been administered since then. Over 6.6 million people were fully vaccinated.
The City of Prague adopted a decree banning the use of most types of pyrotechnic items, such as fireworks and rockets.
A revised version of the emergency measures will apply from December 29th to January 2nd. As of December 29, a maximum of 50 people will be allowed at indoor events, parties and New Year’s celebrations with only four people allowed at one table. Cultural events will still be limited to 1,000 people, but events, where people mingle, must not exceed 100 participants. In the first fortnight of the New Year, schoolchildren will have to undergo tests twice a week. Other measures concern cable cars, which will no longer require proof of full vaccination, recent illness, or PCR test, where the cable car is operated under a public service contract. For school ski courses shorter than eight days, a PCR test completed no more than 72 hours before the start of the course will be sufficient for pupils under the age of 18, and for longer courses pupils will have to be retested after five to seven days. “In order to prevent the uncontrolled spread of the new omicron variant, it will now be mandatory to perform investigative PCR tests on all positive samples if the test subjects showed clinical signs of Covid-19,” said Health Minister Vlastimil Válek (TOP 09). The...
If your day doesn’t start until you’re up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to our new morning fix. A revised version of the emergency measures will apply from December 29th to January 2nd. Only four people will now be allowed to sit at the same table in restaurants. For public or private events, the new limit will be a maximum of 50 people at the same time in one place. People over 30 may get their third anti-coronavirus jab already five months after the previous injection as of today while so far, only people over 45 had this chance and younger people had to wait for the third jab for six months. Another small energy supplier has declared bankruptcy. Františkovy energie had approximately 5,000 customers who must find a new supplier within the next six months. A survey conducted by the Median agency suggests that just over half of Czechs agree with the introduction of compulsory vaccination for selected groups or people in high-risk professions. The Prague police are investigating a carbon monoxide leak in a family house in Modřany. Over 30 people, including several children, were poisoned late Saturday night....
Former Czech prime minister Andrej Babis has bought a camper van in which he wants to start travelling across the country to meet people as of February, he said in a video posted on his Twitter account today. “I’ve always dreamed of riding a camper van and of course sleeping in it. Why? Because it reminds me of when in 2013 I traveled with my team to meet citizens during the election campaign,” said Babiš. ANO, whose acronym means both “yes” and “Action of Dissatisfied Citizens”, a populist party, easily won the general election that took place in the Czech Republic on 20th and 21st October 2017, with 29.64% of the vote and 78 seats (+ 31 in comparison with the previous general election on 25th and 26th October 2013). Je to tady. Kupuju obytňák! pic.twitter.com/WZcjdo1lss — Andrej Babiš (@AndrejBabis) December 27, 2021 The camper van is equipped with a kitchen, dressing room, bathroom and four beds. Babiš, one of the richest Czechs, left the post of prime minister on December 17 and he is the leader of the senior opposition ANO movement and lower house member now. Milos Zeman backed Babis to replace him as Czech President in...
Several members of the new government will not be able to lead working meetings in English and therefore will use an interpreter. As Hospodářské noviny reports, at least five ministers have insufficient language skills. English in particular will be key to the Czech Republic’s forthcoming EU presidency. “We will prepare the Czech presidency of the EU professionally and responsibly in the autumn of 2022. We will guarantee that every member of the government can properly speak at least one foreign language,” Pirates and STAN parties representatives said. “According to my teachers, my English is at B1 level and I am trying to improve my skills further,” said Minister of Defense Jana Černochová (ODS), who speaks Polish and can passively speak Russian. Level B1 corresponds to independent users of the language, i.e. those who have the necessary fluency to communicate without effort with native speakers. Minister of Finance Zbyněk Stanjura (ODS) stated that he would need an interpreter for important business meetings. “I haven’t been very active in English lately, and I admit that my level of English is not good enough, yet” he said. During his presidency, Stanjura will chair the Ecofin Council of Finance Ministers, which regularly addresses important financial...
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