Since the beginning of April, Czechs are spending on average CZK 360,000 on beer and food vouchers every day to be consumed “in better times”. Following the success of Zachraň pivo! (Save the Beer!) website, the new Zachraň svou hospodu! (Save Your Pub!) site enables concerned drinkers to buy vouchers for use when cash-strapped Czech pubs re-open. The initiative partners include a dozen of the Czech Republic’s biggest breweries, alcohol, and soft drinks producers. Among them is Plzeňský Prazdroj, the makers of Pilsner Urquell. “The brewers who work in the pubs all their lives are inherently connected with the pub. We need to support each other,” says Plzeňský Prazdroj’s chief brewmaster emeritus Václav Berka, who has personally bought several vouchers. Berka called on his colleagues in the industry to support their pubs as well. “I was pleasantly surprised by the interest in this initiative, but on the other hand, I was surprised at how many pubs are not involved, yet. I don’t want to use any strong words, but beer is our destiny. Our lives have been associated with it for decades.” “More than 90 percent of establishments are now closed. Czech pubs are part of our culture, an important...
Airbnb is working with hosts from across the Czech Republic to provide first responders, doctors and emergency responders in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, with secure accommodation while they carry out their vital work. Through this global initiative, hosts have already offered up nearly 200,000 places to stay in over 160 countries and regions. Frontline staff can book eligible and available stays in their area. Airbnb will waive all fees on the first 100,000 stays booked through this program. “In tough times like these, it is our priority to stand with the Airbnb community to do what we can to help so that frontline medical staff can carry out their vital work in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic as well and as safely as possible. Hosts on Airbnb are ensuring that frontline workers can find free, affordable and convenient places to stay. We would like to thank all frontline workers throughout the Czech Republic and the many hosts who are already offering them a place to stay,” said Kathrin Anselm, General Manager DACH, CEE & RUS at Airbnb. In the UK, Airbnb is working closely with hosts to provide National Health Service (NHS) staff and other frontline workers...
Czech PM Andrej Babiš sees no reason to extend the State of Emergency, which expires on April 30. The government will discuss it further on Thursday. According to Babiš, the whole ANO party will vote unanimously against the extension. However, ČSSD chairman and the head of the country’s Central Crisis Staff, has repeatedly stated that an “extension of the State of Emergency would be necessary.” “If the Prime Minister does not want to extend the State of Emergency, then it makes no sense to ask the government. I will order the Ministry of Internal Affairs to prepare the documents to stop the centralized distribution of protective equipment by April 30,” wrote Hamáček on Twitter. “>Můj dopis panu premiérovi, v němž vysvětluji důvody pro pokračování nouzového stavu: pic.twitter.com/jCNvzj1Fkl — Jan Hamáček (@jhamacek) April 21, 2020 Hamáček warned that it would no longer be possible, for instance, to purchase protective equipment centrally or to control the regime at the country’s borders. Minister of Labor Jana Maláčová (ČSSD) is also skeptical about the consequences of the end of the State of Emergency on April 30. “If this happens, I want to know how to protect the elderly after the emergency, how we will...
The Czech government presented this morning a plan to test 27,000 people in various population groups to gain information on how many people have to head the virus possibly without symptoms.
As all schools, kindergartens and other school facilities (such as forest kindergartens, children’s groups, etc.) have been closed in the Czech Republic, government measures have been extended to self-employed persons who are forced to stay with their children at home. Šárka Pelikánová, owner of the accountancy and tax office of Connect Economic Group s.r.o. Who is eligible for the nursing allowance? Self-employed persons have never been entitled to a nursing allowance. Now all entrepreneurs who undertake self-employment as their main activity and who are not employed anywhere have the possibility to apply for a nursing allowance. However, self-employed persons who undertake self-employment as their secondary activity due to disability pension, maternity leave, etc., and the reason for their secondary activity is not related to employment, are also entitled to apply. If at the same time, the entrepreneur, whether for the main or secondary activity, has a signed contract on the performance of the office of the company executive, this person is not entitled to receive the nursing care allowance. Other conditions for receiving the nursing allowance It should be taken into account that self-employed persons must be registered for income tax at the tax office. At the same time, it...
The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) has approved a € 300 million loan to the Czech Republic to finance health expenditure to combat the spread and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Czech Republic was quick to undertake COVID-19 protective measures in January before any confirmed cases were reported in the country. The CEB loan will support the Czech government in furthering its efforts to mitigate the spread and impact of COVID-19 by covering 90% of the total cost required in the immediate term. It will enable the acquisition of medical material and equipment, including tests, ventilators, and respirators as well as protective equipment for frontline staff. The loan may also cover the rehabilitation and conversion of spaces, medical units, and hospitals to meet current emergency healthcare needs. CEB Governor Rolf Wenzel said: “In light of this unprecedented pandemic, the Bank has mobilised additional human and financial resources to ensure that it is in a position to assist its member countries in the best possible way. The loan provided to the Czech Republic is part of a first fast-track package of close to € 1.7 billion supporting projects in health and MSME financing in countries affected by the pandemic. Additional support will be made...
The Czech cabinet on Monday approved an amendment to increase the state budget deficit to 300 billion CZK (11.92 billion U.S. dollars), the Ministry of Finance said in a press release. It’s the second time the Czech government plans to readjust its state budget this year. In March, President Milos Zeman signed into law a budget expansion up to 200 billion CZK (7.95 billion U.S. dollars). “The crisis situation persists and there is a further fall in income, which is why this amendment is absolutely necessary to save our economy. We have come up with a number of measures to help both employees, entrepreneurs and businesses,” said Finance Minister Alena Schillerova. The latest amendment to the Act on the State of Budget for 2020 is based on the updated macroeconomic forecast published by the Ministry of Finance, the ministry said. The newly proposed budget will contain a total of 1.4282 trillion CZK (56.76 billion U.S. dollars) in revenue and 1.7282 trillion in spending (68.68 billion U.S. dollars), leaving a state budget deficit of 300 billion. The state now predicts further losses of tax revenue and plans to increase benefits and provide debt relief, the ministry said.
Festka realized an impactful video appeal for cyclists to respect the Coronavirus restrictions The recent warm and sunny weather lures cyclists out and the breaking curves representing the numbers of infected in the Czech Republic and several other countries breed optimism. The temptation to take off face-masks and organize a group ride gets stronger every day. Festka, the Prague based manufacturer of top-end bicycle frames, decided to contribute to the debate about the easing of restrictions and the personal responsibility of the individual. The company asked a team of its long term collaborators in the area of film and photography to make a short video in which it wants to appeal to cyclists to keep on respecting the restrictions, ride alone and not gather in popular spots. “Noticing the growing number of groups of cyclists, runners, and walkers, I was disappointed to see people flaunt the rules on social distancing. I approached our filmmaking friends and we made a video which appeals to cyclists to respect the restrictions in order for us all to be able to ride together again soon,” says Michael Moureček, the Festka co-founder and a former pro cyclist, adding: “As lovers of cycling we completely...
Czech President Miloš Zeman will attend celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s Victory over Nazi Germany, which was scheduled to take place on May 9 but had to be postponed due to the coronavirus, as Zeman himself told Radio Frekvence 1 on Sunday. “I accepted President Putin’s invitation,” Zeman pointed out. “I suppose that the celebrations will take place in September instead of May 9. “It would be logical because World War II ended in September, and it was the war in Europe that came to an end on May 9,” he added. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday that the Victory Day parade and the Immortal Regiment march, initially set for May 9, would take place later in the year after the coronavirus threat is over. The “risks associated with the epidemic, whose peak has not passed yet, are extremely high,” Putin said. “This does not give me the right to begin preparations for the parade and other mass events now.” Victory Day is the most important public event remaining in Russia’s calendar. Western leaders have snubbed the parade since 2014, following Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Moscow’s alleged meddling in the US presidential...
During isolation in this coronavirus world, there is time to reinvent passion for learning not only the Czech language. Determination and a few useful little tricks can help add the new language to the daily routine without much effort. From the very morning, there are thousands of opportunities on how to upgrade language skills. Language teachers and coaches got together unusual language learning tips to quit the usual learner’s excuses. THINGS YOU LOVE WILL MAKE YOU WISER In her e-book How to Learn (not only) Czech Language Through Social Media, Lenka from CzechTime invites people to use social media for something else than just procrastination and coronavirus-news-scrolling. She found a better use for them. “Join and Like your favorite groups, ideas, sports, people etc. on Facebook and Instagram BUT in the language, you are learning”. Example: If one is Italian and misses their home or just loves Italy and is learning Czech, the advice is to find an Italy fan blog in Czech e.g.Itálie v Brne on Facebook and Like and Follow it. The FB wall will be full of both, Czech language and Italy after such Likes and learning happens without even knowing. LEARN TO LISTEN It is...
If you want to experience an oasis of calm just a bus ride away from the bustling city center, Prague Botanical garden is a great choice. Located in the vicinity of the Prague Zoo, in the Troja basin, Botanical Garden has been growing significantly since its opening. Prague city, in agreement with the Ministry of Health, reopened the outdoor exhibitions in the Botanical Garden in Troja on Monday. However, people must respect strict sanitary measures. However, all indoor expositions, including the tropical greenhouse Fata Morgana, remain closed. Open-air expositions cover an area of nearly 25 hectares. Stretching over a large chunk of land, the Botanic Garden includes a Japanese Garden with a gorgeous grove of Japanese Cherry trees, an exhibition of irises, several small ponds, and lakes, and the vineyard of St. Claire. The central bed of a perennial and annual plant collection is among the most attractive parts of the garden – it blossoms in a variety of colors and shades during the summer months. A valuable collection of bulbous and tuberous plants is also worth seeing. Blooms of crowtoes, crocuses, hyacinths, bluebells and grape hyacinths adorn the garden from early March. The garden will be open every day from 9:00 to...
The world is under no illusion that air travel could look a whole lot different in the coming months post-COVID-19. But just how different will it get?
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