Around 40% of Czech internet users believe in conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic, a survey conducted by the STEM agency revealed. While half the population is convinced that the virus was made in a laboratory, 10% of Czechs believe the real purpose of vaccination is to inject microchips into human bodies and to control the whole society. At the same time, 6% of internet users have been actively spreading disinformation about the coronavirus via e-mail or social media. As the STEM agency pointed out, Czechs are prone to believe in conspiracy theories but so far it has not led to boycotts or restrictive measures. 38 percent of respondents have lost confidence in government information. About a fifth said they had stopped trusting public service news. The greatest trust (around 70 percent), was maintained by information from immunologists, general practitioners, doctors and nurses. According to STEM, mistrust in official information and misinformation are reflected in how people say they follow basic anti-epidemic measures. “Society’s misinformation and suspicion about the epidemic is relatively high. So far, this has not led to people boycotting the measures massively, but it is a warning,” said research co-author Nikola Hořejš. The Czech government has been...
The Czech government ordered blanket testing of employees in companies around the country. Companies with over 250 employees will have to start testing on Wednesday and conclude the first round of testing no later than March 12, companies with over 50 employees no later than March 15. The fine for failing to comply can reach half a million crowns. Around 2.1 million employees will be tested in the next two weeks. According to the new measures, large- and medium-sized companies must test all employees in order to continue operating during the pandemic. The state will fund four tests per employee per month. Employees working from home are not required to be tested. “We are not stopping industry. However, comprehensive testing in companies will be mandatory. This makes them part of the solution to the Covid crisis,’’ said Karel Havlíček (ANO), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade. Průmysl nezastavujeme. Plošné testování ve firmách bude ale povinné. Tím se stávají součástí řešení covidové krize. Do 12.3. musí mít první testy všichni zaměstnanci firem nad 250 zaměstnanců, do 15.3. pracovníci podniků 50-249. — Karel Havlíček (@KarelHavlicek_) March 1, 2021 The new rules imposed are the strictest to hit the industrial...
The former Minister of Health and ex-adviser to Prime Minister Andrej Babiš appeared on the list of advisers to President Miloš Zeman. On Sunday, during the program Partie on TV Prima, the Czech President announced that he would like to accept Prymula as his advisor for an unpaid position. The president stated that the ex-minister could “become an unpaid reinforcement in his team of advisers.” “As the Prime Minister rightly says, he lacks social intelligence. But as an epidemiologist, he is excellent,” said Zeman. After attending a European League football match between Slavia Prague and Leicester City on February 18, Prymula was fired from his role as an adviser to Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. “Mr. Prymula is a great expert on epidemics, but he lacks social intelligence. This is again simply wrong, towards football fans who can’t go to the stadium, as well as the people we want to be at home now. We have agreed to end our cooperation because it is untenable,” said Babiš. Only a few hours before the match in Prague, Prymula expressed his support for a harsher lockdown in the Czech Republic. Zeman’s advisers include, for example, former CSSD deputy chairman Michal Hašek and businessman...
Born in Leitomischl, Bohemia (now Litomyšl) on this day in 1824, Bedřich Smetana was performing as a pianist by the time he was six years old. His childhood friend (and future wife) Katerina Kolar helped him secure piano lessons with the composer Josef Proksch. In 1840 he wrote in his diary that he aspired to be “a Mozart in composition and a Liszt in technique.” His early compositions impressed Franz Liszt enough that the Hungarian composer offered to find him a publisher. Smetana spent several years in Sweden conducting the Gothenburg Philharmonic. It was during a visit with Liszt that he was inspired to become an original Czech composer, using music to tell stories drawn from history and literature. Smetana returned home in 1861 where his second opera, Prodaná nevěsta (The Bartered Bride), became a major success and he eventually became conductor of the national opera. Even after losing his hearing due to illness, he continued composing at a prolific rate. “In these three years of deafness,” he later remarked, “I have completed more music than I had otherwise done in ten.” During this period he completed what many consider to be his greatest work, Má Vlast (My Homeland), a series of six tone...
The Czech Republic could receive Russian Sputnik V jabs “as soon as possible”, President Miloš Zeman told CNN Prima News, confirming that after consulting with Prime Minister Andrej Babiš he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for the COVID-19 vaccines to be delivered. “If I am correctly informed, this request will be met, but of course, we will need certification,” said Zeman, adding that if he were to decide, the State Institute for Drug Control (SÚKL) certification would suffice. While Babiš had been opposed to the Sputnik V vaccine skipping the European Medical Agency (EMA) process for approval – which it has not yet applied for – it appears he has now changed his mind. “We cannot wait for the EMA because Russia did not apply [for approval],” Babiš told CNN Prima News, adding that six EU countries now want the Russian jab. According to Zeman, the Czech State Institute for Drug Control “should not be lazy” and “issue the certification [for Sputnik V] as Hungary did.” While the president and PM are open to the Russian vaccine despite it not having been approved by the EMA, Health Minister Jan Blatný confirmed he will not authorize the Russian vaccine unless...
While the Czech Republic continues to have one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe, the covid pandemic has certainly impacted the number of jobs available. The Czech unemployment rate is at the highest it’s been in the last few years, around 4%. What the figures don’t show is the number of people who are technically still employed yet on significantly reduced hours or pay due to most restaurants surviving on takeaway orders and most shops still closed. Particularly in Prague, the 73% drop off in tourism over the last year has exacerbated the issues workers and employers are facing and it’s no surprise employers in other sectors are cautious about hiring. Bucking the trend is Karlin-based recruitment agency NonStop Consulting. At the start of this pandemic, NonStop leaders made a no redundancies commitment to employees. Not only did they manage it but they’ve been consistently hiring here in Prague and currently have another 50 open vacancies for expats and Czechs to join the team. We sat down with the newly appointed CEO of NonStop, Ben Jones, to discuss how this company continues to thrive and see what he thinks about the post-covid future of employment. Having a good business...
The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, which is commonly referred to as IBDP is a comprehensive 2-year program that trains secondary school year students. Successful students of the IBDP avail an IB Diploma which is recognized by universities all over the world. The IBDP offers a balanced approach which challenges 16-19 aged-young scholars academically. Of course, the diploma significantly helps students in pursuing their university admissions. The program provides holistic training to its academics. Be it the IA IB writing service or the classroom dynamics, IBDP enhances the critical thinking and management skills of students while theoretically training them. Contrary to what most of the college prepping initiatives have to offer, IBDP comes with diversity in just the contents of the diploma, but with respect to how widespread it is. Universities all over the world recognize IBDP and therefore, regardless of what your nationality is, you must give it a thought and consideration. So, if you plan to apply to Prague for higher education or other towns, your IBDP will be easily recognized and appreciated. What are good IBDP options for Czech students? Having this said, youngsters from the Czech Republic have the option to pursue IBDP because of numerous reasons,...
Acceleration of a substantial part of the mopeds, establishing cooperation with a group of couriers, or adding charging phone holders. The company E-sharing s.r.o., which provides shared electric mopeds under the brand blinkee.city, has not been idle during the winter break. Their customers can rely on a disinfectant in the trunk of each vehicle. Polish franchise blinkee.city has entered the domestic market only last June but its shared electric mopeds have quickly become popular in Prague. In order to offer enhanced comfort to drivers in the second season, the team worked forward technical and practical improvements. “We have gathered feedback from our customers for the past months and based on that our team added improvements to our mopeds which will move eco-driving to a new level. Shared mobility is getting more opportunities in Prague and that motivates us a lot,” says Jan Kanta, the CEO of E-sharing. Over 50% of mopeds got faster Both new and regular users of blinkee.city can look forward to faster mopeds as the company equipped more than half of the vehicles with new regulators that have a considerable impact on the speed. The users will recognize the accelerated mopeds by seeing a lightning emoji in...
10,000 posters throughout the country will remind people to be compliant with the measures against the spread of Covid-19. The Ministry of Interior wants to remind people to wear respirators outside and stay at home. Even more so now, since the detection of the new Covid-19 variants and the incessantly growing number of cases. This campaign and initiative were inspired by a similar campaign in the UK. The colored posters will either showcase slogans which say: “Stay home, save lives” or “Wear respirators, save lives”. “It’s never too late to tell people again how easily they can become heroes and save lives. Just stay at home and wear a respirator consistently outside”, commented Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Jan Hamáček. The posters will be dispersed in cities and municipalities all around the Czech Republic. They’ll be printed and put up by Rengl this weekend, with the Ministry paying 1.5 million CZK for the campaign. The very first case of the Covid-19 virus was detected on March 1 2020 in the Czech Republic. Fast forward to now, 1.2 million people have become ill with the virus, and reportedly 20,000 people have died from it. Since the start of February 2021,...
March 1st marks the 100th anniversary of the original publication of the first part of Jaroslav Hašek’s satirical masterpiece The Good Soldier Švejk and His Fortunes in the World War. The four-part book made its author famous and found a permanent place in world literature. Since its original publication, the adventures of Hašek’s good-humored main character have been translated into 54 languages, including Chinese and Arabic. The central character in the novel, Josef Švejk, a dealer in stolen dogs in civilian life, is a Czech soldier who makes himself appear a fool to get around his superiors and fights a peculiar and often hilarious war of attrition against the difficult circumstances he finds himself in. Švejk is a survivor, an amiably simple-minded, middle-aged man who never takes offence or gets angry, who walks through life with a sweet smile on his face, a survivor with a ready fund of cheerful stories about friends and acquaintances, which are appropriate for every situation he finds himself in, no matter how challenging, happy as long as he has a pint in one hand and his pipe in the other. As Cecil Parrott notes in the introduction to a 1974 edition: “Švejk speaks most...
Czech Republic’s President Miloš Zeman claims that he thinks that the majority of the population could be vaccinated by September, according to an interview he was on for Czech television. More strict lockdown measures have been implemented from Monday (March 1), restricting people from visiting relatives in other cities outside of Prague for example, and encouraging people not to visit relatives in the same city if they are in a different household. “This disaster is gradually coming to an end. By September at the latest, the majority of the population could be vaccinated – basically, everyone who is interested. And I believe that a slightly demented group of people who don’t want it will change their minds. I believe the epidemic will be over by September and so far, all previous cases have ended successfully. We had tuberculosis, whooping cough, smallpox, and polio. For all these diseases, vaccination worked. And that’s why vaccination should work on Covid”, commented President Zeman. Zeman also called on everyone to abide by the tightened measures from Monday, stating that he thinks the Czech Republic has a maximum of six months ahead to bear until everything calms down and there might be a return to...
Three German states are sending 15,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to the Czech Republic, German regional MDR television reported on Sunday, citing Saxony’s state premier, Michael Kretschmer. The three states are Saxony and Bavaria, which border the Czech Republic, and their neighbor, Thuringia. Prague on Friday tightened restrictions on shops, schools, and movement for the next three weeks in a bid to slow a surge of coronavirus infections. “We must limit people’s mobility as much as possible for three weeks and minimize people-to-people contacts,” said PM Babis. “We will introduce a ban on movement between regions with some exceptions, such as travel to work.” The Czech Republic had the highest per capita infection rate in the world over the past week, according to the Our World in Data website, 10 times that of Germany. France has already pledged to supply 100,000 vaccine doses to the Czech Republic and Israel has sent 5,000 shots. Five thousand doses of the Moderna vaccine that arrived from Israel last week will be administered to soldiers working with Covid patients. The European Commission has sealed deals with several companies for well over 2 billion vaccine shots – far more than the EU population of around...
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