Dozens of Restaurants and Cafes Remained Open Until 10 pm in Protest

Several pubs around the country protested and defied the start of an earlier closing time that started on Wednesday after the government walked back some of its easier restrictions this week.

On Wednesday, 23 restaurants and cafes remained open for two more hours after 20:00 in protest against the COVID-19 measures.

“The government has thrown pubs, bars, culture, and services overboard. The Czech Republic is not a dictatorship! From now on, we will defend our rights,” said one of the business operators. And as they might have expected, the police arrived around 8.30 pm.

As Novinky.cz reports, the police came, for example, to Malý Janek restaurant in Jince in Příbram, to Šeberák pub in Prague and to U Rady in Ostrava.

“At a time when shopping centers are open and crowded, restricting restaurants is irrelevant. It may seem to some that it is only two hours, but for us, these are the most expensive hours of our operation.”

People who spent time in these facilities after 8 pm can face a fine of 20,000 CZK. Legal entities cannot be fined according to current legal norms.

“We do not agree with the government’s unsystematic restrictions. Although we follow all hygiene measures, we are identified as one of the main culprits of the deteriorating state of the epidemic. We have become the scapegoat for the chaotic decisions of our government,” said Tomáš Kolařík on behalf of the restaurateurs.

The Czech Republic reported 6,402 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, the most since November 19 and continuing a trend of showing a weekly rise in infections.

In total, 563,333 cases have been detected since the pandemic started. There are 60,161 active cases currently.