Amid rising case numbers, Austria is closing its 42 border crossings with the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Smaller border crossings will be closed completely from Thursday, January 14, while fixed controls will be put in place at larger border crossings. Interior Minister Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) described the situation in Slovakia and the Czech Republic as “extremely tense”. The country is concerned about the situation in both countries, which are currently one of the most affected by coronavirus infection. Ongoing checks took place at the Austrian border before the Christmas holidays. Austria has carried out more than 770,000 checks since the mandatory quarantine regulation came into effect on December 19th. The conditions for a trip to Austria do not change. Upon arrival, a ten-day quarantine is required. After five days, it is possible to undergo a test and in case of a negative result, terminate the isolation. In addition, at the border, passengers must fill in a form and specify the reason why they are coming to Austria. Cross-border commuters will be allowed to enter and to avoid the quarantine requirement, however all cross-border workers will need to show evidence that they have an employer in Austria. ❗️9. ledna obnovilo...
Global deliveries by Volkswagen’s Škoda Auto fell 19.1% to 1.005 million vehicles in 2020, hit by the COVID-19 pandemic which caused production outages and closures of dealerships, the Czech carmaker said on Tuesday. The carmaker delivered more than 1 million vehicles for the seventh year running but suffered like many peers as the pandemic hit output and sales, largely in the second quarter. The company saw its biggest drop in China, its largest single market, where deliveries fell 38.7% in 2020, shrinking for a second straight year. Škoda said the second half of the year saw improvement and its board member responsible for sales, Alain Favey, said he viewed the coming months with moderate optimism, despite a surge in COVID-19 infections. While the Czech Republic and other countries in Europe have been hit harder by a growing number of infections, factories have kept their gates open, unlike near the outset of the pandemic. Czech industrial output grew on a year-on-year basis in October and November, according to the latest data available, after crashing in April and May. Škoda is the country’s biggest exporter, shipping the vast majority of its cars abroad. In Europe, Škoda said its market share increased to...
The Covid-19 pandemic measures have forced a big decline in rent prices in Prague. This is due to a few factors, namely because of a lack of tourism, and an absence of university students. In pre-lockdown times, thousands of university students were usually expected at the end of summer to come looking for accommodation, but distance-learning has been obliged by governments globally, eradicating the need for students to show up physically. A significant decrease has been documented since August 2020, substantially peaking around that time when it was clear that universities were not going to be open again, and that learning would stay online. Rent prices have been decreasing since then, affecting all parts of Prague. Notably, Prague 1 encountered a huge decrease of 11.5% during August of last year, followed by Prague 7, with a documented decrease of 5.8%. The estimated rent price for 1+KK dropped by 12%, at about 11,000 CZK since December 2020. On the other hand, 3+KK apartment rents plunged to a decrease of 14.6%. What this has come to signify for the market, is a decline in short-term rentals. Mainly correlated with the fact that there aren’t enough tourists to rent out flats for a...
The European Medicines Agency said Tuesday that AstraZeneca and Oxford University have submitted an application for their COVID-19 vaccine to be licensed across the European Union. The Czech Republic is therefore expecting the delivery of 200,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in February, and 3 million by the end of the year. “Thanks to the easier handling and storage, vaccination will become more accessible. It is another step so that we can return to normal life,“ said State Institute for Drug Control (SÚKL) director Irena Storová. The EMA, the drugs agency for the 27-nation EU, has already approved two other coronavirus vaccines, one made by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech and another made by U.S. biotechnology company Moderna. The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to be a key vaccine for many countries because of its low cost, availability, and ease of use. It can be kept in refrigerators rather than the ultra-cold storage that the Pfizer vaccine requires. From January 15, people of 80 years and older will be able to register themselves for COVID-19 vaccination, for the rest of the Czech population, it will open from February 1. Latest statistics The number of deaths related to COVID-19 rose by...
Entering the 2021 EU Year of Railway, the European Commission has approved today an investment of over €160 million (more than 4 billion CZK) from the Cohesion Fund to replace the single line between Sudoměřice u Tábora and Votice with a new 17 km-long double-track railway. This will enable the passage of long-distance, high-speed trains, and more freight and regional trains. Cohesion and Reforms Commissioner Elisa Ferreira said: “This project will modernize rail transport in the Czech Republic making its railway network more competitive and attractive compared to other more polluting and dangerous transport modes.” “This will greatly benefit people and businesses not only in the Czech Republic but also in the rest of Central Europe,” she adds. The project will contribute to the greater capacity and competitiveness of railway transport. This should encourage a shift from road to rail transport, which will bring environmental benefits, in the form of less noise and air pollution, while contributing to socio-economic development in the south and central Bohemia. The new line on Prague-České Budějovice railway corridor will facilitate access to the cities of České Budějovice and Prague and the town of Tábor, making it easier for people to meet the demand for...
As of Monday, a vaccination team has been dispatched in Prague and started operating in the early hours of the morning. The team consists of a doctor, two nurses, and volunteers. They are driven around in a Red Cross vehicle with the task of vaccinating clients of residential facilities for senior citizens. The facilities themselves cannot provide vaccinations to the elderly, hence the need for this team and operation. It has been reported that six facilities have requested the service so far. The vaccination team has been organized by the Czech Red Cross, along with the Prague Municipality, and the Municipal Polyclinic. David Doležil, Director of the Municipal Polyclinic and regional vaccination coordinator, has said that “The mobile team will help with vaccinations in various other locations in the coming days as necessary. In addition to that, our polyclinic will provide the entire logistics and handle the formal side of things. We have another very difficult period ahead of us.” Czech Republic’s Minister of Health announced that the vaccination against Covid-19 will strategically be carried out, and done in three stages. Blatný announced in a press conference during the first week of January. The first stage, which is currently happening,...
The Czech branches of Marks & Spencer are temporarily closing due to Brexit and pandemic. Marks & Spencer food store in Wenceslas Square is much beloved by British residents of the city for supplying homely delicacies like Breakfast tea, crumpets, sandwiches, and ready meals. But post-Brexit supply problems are taking their toll, and food stores will close from January 15. Since the Brexit transition period ended on January 1st businesses transporting goods into EU countries such as France face a raft of new regulations, especially around animal products. Shelves in the outlet in Wenceslas Square were partially empty on Tuesday with signs attributing missing items to new rules following Britain’s official exit from the European Union at the end of last month. “With footfall to our five open city centre food halls significantly reduced and customers shopping online with us instead, we have taken the decision to also close these remaining stores during this time from Friday,” a company spokesman said. The company stated that its “stores in Ireland, France, and the Czech Republic would be the most vulnerable.” “We are sorry that some of your favorite foods are not available. This situation occurred due to the new UK /...
Mooi is an all-vegan restaurant in Brno offering kebabs, gyros, wraps, salads, and fries with vegan dips. Despite the unfavorable current situation, the two owners will open a second branch in Prague. This might surprise some, since Czech cuisine is all about stewed meats, dumplings, and heavy sauces, but happycow.net placed Prague among the 10 most vegan-friendly cities in the world for the second year in a row. The ranking was created taking into account the ratio between population and number of restaurants that offer menus for non-meat eaters. There’s an ever-growing need in large metropolitan cities for foods available for those suffering from coeliac disease to other food intolerances, vegetarians, and allergies. Czechs have started to change their thinking about food and health, while growth in tourism in recent times means people of all shades and tastes have been descending on the Czech Republic capital in greater numbers, and with a correlating rise in veganism, menus are changing to accommodate them. “The time is definitely not suitable. But the decision to open a branch in Prague came in February 2020, just before the whole crisis began. In addition, we were firmly determined from the first moment we learned about...
Prague City Council is starting to roll out contactless pedestrian buttons around the city as part of the effort to slow the spread of Covid-19. The new contactless pedestrian buttons have already been put at the two crossings at Dvořákovo nábřeží. Deputy Mayor for Transport Adam Scheinherr (Praha sobě) is behind the idea of introducing contactless pedestrian buttons in Prague. “There is no such system in Europe. I found similar buttons in Australia, but there we encountered a problem that it would not comply with Czech technical standards. So we tried to develop our own button,” he said. The new contactless system is supplied by the Czech company Eltodo. But how exactly does the contactless crossing work? It’s pretty simple, actually. Right now, if you want to cross the street, you need to manually push a button whose purpose is to turn the light green for pedestrians and red for cars. But because touching the button with your hand is no longer something recommended given the global health crisis, the contactless system changes this behavior by requiring you to wave the hand in front of a sensor. When this happens, the traffic light should again change accordingly to allow you...
The Czech president said Sunday he had asked Israel for advice on coronavirus vaccinations as his EU country suffered one of the world's fastest infection rates.
Prague City have will use the woods of its Christmas trees to make furniture for social facilities.
The Tricolor Citizens' Movement political party (Trikolóra) aims to introduce regular referendums on withdrawal from the EU every time there is a parliamentary election.
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