The largest COVID-19 vaccination centre in the Czech Republic was put through its paces on Friday, but it will not be fully operational until May as the country badly hit by the pandemic waits for more vaccine shots. “The vaccination centre at Prague’s O2 Arena complex will start in full at the beginning of May because at the moment there are not enough vaccines for it to go at full capacity,” Prime Minister Andrej Babis said during an inspection on Friday. The centre is to be a key component in ramping up inoculations. But it faces a three-week delay until May 3 before starting with a capacity of 7,000 people a day. The government has come under criticism for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, including its failure to order as many vaccines as it could under the EU’s program. Following a spat in Brussels over the distribution of extra vaccines among member states, the Czechs are now projected to lag behind all other EU countries by mid-year. Deaths from the disease have hit 27,617, more than doubling in 2021 alone. On Thursday, 5,245 new cases were reported, the lowest weekday tally since mid-December. In total, 1.57 million infections have...
Are you eagerly waiting for the Covid-19 measures to be relaxed so that you can go beyond the borders of your district? Of course, we are not wasting any time and are already planning another trip in a campervan around the Czech Republic. Our focus will be on the most beautiful views of the Czech Republic, which will first start in the Central Bohemian Region. Thanks to these beauties being just a short driving distance from Prague, it is possible to visit them as part of a day trip. Next, we will explore together the so-called ‘Bohemian Switzerland’ National Park, the Jeseníky Mountains, eastern Bohemia, or the Beskydy Mountains. You can easily cover all these locations within an 8day trip. ● St. John under a rock – located in the Beroun district, this hidden gem is situated all the way up through the forest, and getting there is not very difficult. The interesting part is that this sought-after place gave rise to the first, and therefore the oldest signposted hiking trails in Bohemia. ● Drábské světničky – this former rock fortress is one of the most frequently visited attractions in the ‘Bohemian Paradise‘ (aka Český ráj) and offers a wide...
Mandatory vaccinations for pre-school children in the Czech Republic have been backed by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in a landmark ruling. The case was lodged by families in the Czech Republic who had children refused admission to pre-school or had been fined for refusing to vaccinate their children, in some instances dating back to 2003. The ECHR said it found no violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, rebuffing the parents’ complaints that the government had violated their rights. While all the cases pre-dated the Covid-19 pandemic, the issue of routine vaccinations in children has faced increasing challenges due the spread of the virus. That landmark ruling is the first from the ECHR on compulsory vaccinations against childhood diseases, with the judges backing Czech legislation by 16 to 1. ‘The… measures could be regarded as being “necessary in a democratic society”‘ the court said, adding: ‘The objective has to be that every child is protected against serious diseases, through vaccination or by virtue of herd immunity.’ ‘The Court found that the measures complained of by the applicants, when assessed in the national context, had struck a fair balance with the aims pursued by the Czech State, i.e. protection...
Do Prace Na Kole is a friendly competition that aims to motivate as many people as possible to use a bike as a regular urban means of transportation. The ‘competition’ will place during the month of May and is organized by the independent NGO, Auto*Mat. You don’t need to be a biker to participate: walking, running, and skating to work are also welcome. The main point is to ditch cars and other motorized vehicles. Due to the state of emergency, the organizers decided to adjust the rules of the competition, so it is possible to count trips not only to the workplace. People can compete with others from across the Czech Republic either as an individual or as part of a team in categories such as frequency of travel by bike/foot, total distance covered, longest commute, and others. Teams can compete in the following categories: regularity, performance, cyclo-employer of the year, cyclo-measure, and creativity. The regularity category is self-explanatory; it’s about the frequency of going to work on a bike. If you go by bike every day, you have a great chance of winning! Performance is a distance competition for individuals so if you live close to work but still want...
“The requirement to wear face masks outside will most likely be lifted during the summer months,” said today on CNN Prima News the new Minister of Health, Petr Arenberger. The government wants to revise the rules so that face coverings do not need to be worn while in public if a safe distance can be maintained. Arenberger also explained the next steps to tackle the pandemic in the country. “We agree that getting children back to school is a priority. In addition, parents should be able to buy clothes, and shoes for their kids in stores,” he added. Regarding the face masks, Arenberberg cited Germany as an example, where last summer most states required residents to wear face masks or coverings only in shops, grocery stores, and shopping malls, as well as on local public transportation. Berlin was the only state where masks were not required in shops and supermarkets, but rather “strongly recommended.” “A similar system could work here as well,” Arenberger said. In February, the Ministry of Health ordered the wearing of KN95 or FFP2 type respirators, and nano-filtered face masks in public transport and other public places. Homemade cloth masks, including bandanas and the like, are officially...
The Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences and the Prague Public Transport Company (DPP) initiated a sampling and testing of the inside areas of public transport to find out if they can detect the coronavirus. During the current month, they plan to take around 500 samples from surfaces and the air on buses, trams and metro cars and stations. The findings of their research should reportedly be available at the end of May. Workers in protective gear will take swabs from vehicles’ bars, handrails, seats, control buttons, ticket terminals, elevators, stairs, and even benches on platforms. Moreover, they will also take samples directly from the air, which will be aided by their use of a device that sucks in the oxygen around it, and collects coronavirus particles using a filter. The samples will then be taken to a laboratory in České Budějovice. They will in turn use newly developed ‘biosensors’ to detect the presence of the coronavirus. The samples taken will also be checked by experts through PCR tests. Results will be drawn to comparison from both the biosensors and the PCR tests. The biosensors have been developed by Hana Lísalová from the Academy of Sciences. The development...
Local activists are submitting an application to create a national holiday honoring the victims of the Covid-19 virus calling it Pandemic Victims Day. On Wednesday, a proposal was given to the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Radek Vondráček as well as the Speaker of the Senate, Miloš Vystrčil. The proposal suggested that Mar. 22 be dedicated to the remembrance of those who have lost their lives due to the pandemic. The date is significant as at noon on Mar. 22 of this year, a minute of silence was observed throughout the Czech Republic along with church bells ringing which marked exactly one year since the first person in the Czech Republic died from the virus. In an announcement, organizers of the Minute of Silence stated, “the human dimension of the spread of this disease and its destructive influence on our society has been quite forgotten. The grief and the death have, therefore, just remained statistics; it is as if we have forgotten that death on this scale impacts the state of our society as a whole and its ability to cope with the current situation.” Advocates for the proposed holiday would like Pandemic Victims Day to apply to the...
On Thursday, 8 April, Romani people worldwide celebrate International Romani Day. This day marks the first-ever World Romani Congress, which was held near London in Orpington in 1971. Just like last year, celebrations and commemorations of this important day are being held online. The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra with Ida Kelarová will organize a gala concert of jazz, classical, and Romani music to mark the occasion, broadcast live on Czech Television on Thursday, April 8th, at 8.15pm. That congress was also attended by four members of the Union of Gypsies-Roma (Svaz Cikánů-Romů) from Czechoslovakia. In the year 1977, in order to more smoothly organize the Second World Roma Congress, the first international Romani organization was established, the International Romani Union (IRU). In the Czech Republic, International Romani Day was not spoken of until the second half of the 1990s; the very first celebrations of International Romani Day in the Czech Republic were held in the year 2001 by Athinganoi, the association of Romani university students. Famous figures who have participated in previous International Roma Day celebrations include Pope John Paul II, the Dalai Lama, and Vaclav Havel. The Romani Flag The co-creator of the flag was the late Dr. W. R. Rischi, a linguist...
A chip, that simply and quickly detects coronavirus infection at an early stage, has been developed by Czech researchers. It can also be used in forensic analysis. In the past 8 months, researchers from the University of Pardubice, in cooperation with the Czech company IQ Structures (IQS Group), have developed a miniature (10x20mm) chip, that can give precision to the test results of a new type of coronavirus. Grooves on the chip’s surface are designed to elicit the reaction with the right dynamics, in order to concentrate the viral RNA. The virus particles are then subject to the sample analysis. The chip has an application area into which a sample is dripped and the chip will evaluate the result. With this approach, a very small amount of viral RNA can be detected in the sample taken, thus individuals can be detected even in the asymptomatic phase of COVID-19. The chip itself can offer a much wider use, wherever the detection of RNA or DNA particles, from a very small amount of biological material, is needed (e.g. forensic analysis). The development of the chip has been supported by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic within the „Czech...
The Czech Republic will wait until the EU’s European Medicines Agency (EMA) approves Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V before using it, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said on Wednesday. Babiš was speaking after appointing his fourth health minister of the pandemic. President Milos Zeman had sought to have the previous minister removed over his opposition to using Sputnik without EMA approval. “I want to stress (the ministerial change) is not about Sputnik,” Babiš said. “We will wait for the decision of the EMA.” Jan Blatny was replaced by Petr Arenberger, the director of Prague’s University Hospital Vinohrady, who was sworn in by President Milos Zeman. The move opens the way for the possible use of Russian and Chinese vaccines, which have not been approved by the European Union’s drug regulator. Babiš repeatedly criticized Blatny over his handling of the pandemic, including imposing strict conditions for the use of experimental drugs to treat COVID-19 patients. Blatny was also under fire from Zeman, an ally of Babis who is known for his pro-Russian and pro-Chinese views. Zeman said he approached his Russian, Chinese and Israeli counterparts with a request for help with the vaccines and received a positive response from all of them....
The oldest DNA ever found in human remains belongs to a woman who lived in Czechia more than 45,000 years ago, a study has found. Analysis of her skull reveals she was among the first batch of Homo sapiens to live in Eurasia after our species migrated out of Africa. It is believed the woman, dubbed Zlatý kůň, may have had Neanderthal ancestors as little as six or fewer generations in her past. The finding reinforces that humans mated with Neanderthals shortly after we first reached Europe between 50,000 and 45,000 years ago. This mating event saw humans absorb some Neanderthal genes which survive in all modern people except Africans. Neanderthals would go extinct shortly afterwards, with some researchers saying competition with Homo sapiens and a changing climate was to blame. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany tried to date the skeletal remains using radiocarbon isotopes, the traditional and widely-used method for figuring out when a fossil lived. However, contamination of the remains made this impossible. But Neanderthal DNA can be used as a proxy for dating because the length of its segments in the genetic code decreases steadily over generations. The researchers found in their...
The Czechs are the most pessimistic nation in the European Union in their views on the development of the pandemic. Pessimism prevails in the states of the former Eastern bloc, while Sweden is the most optimistic. For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, Czechs are the biggest pessimists in European comparison, the Eurostat data showed. Every month, Brussels statistics measure the current mood of consumers and businesses and their expectations in the coming months. The average mood, where skepticism and optimism are in balance, is indicated by the value of 100 points. In the survey, which took place in mid-March, the Czechs gained 83.3 points, slightly less than Cyprus and Slovakia. On the contrary, in six of the 27 countries, optimism is already prevalent that the pandemic will soon end. The Swedes have the best balance with a score of 106.7 points. Most Europeans believe that the pandemic is ending. Therefore, compared to February, skepticism has decreased in the 25 EU member states. Apart from the Czech Republic, which has introduced the strictest lockdown to date since March 1, the mood has worsened in Estonia. The Baltic country has so far been spared the effects of the pandemic but...
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