Hygienists in Prague are Cracking Down on COVID Guidelines

Prague hygienists inspected 15 restaurants, three cinemas and three theaters on Thursday and Saturday, initiating administrative proceedings against two restaurants for mistakes.

They also checked 455 people for the necessary confirmation of infectivity against COVID-19. Six of them were fined by the police for a total of 3,000 CZK, and 11 were warned for failing to wear respiratory protection.

From Monday, Nov. 1, in accordance with new pandemic measures, restaurant staff must check that their guests have a certificate of vaccination, COVID-19 in the last six months or a valid negative test. After the announcement of the new measures, the chief hygienist Pavla Svrčinová announced that general inspections would take place at the end of the week.

She had previously said that normally hygienists and police will do 1,200 to 1,500 checks a week. According to her, inspectors are often indiscriminately attacked by guests and operators.

After the first wave of inspections on Thursday, the hygienists said that they did not find too many mistakes in the restaurants. However, the operators complained their traffic dropped and with it sales. 

Prior to introducing obligatory checks for infectivity by operators of restaurants and similar establishments, visitors should have the document to submit during the inspection.

Last Friday, Prague hygienists focused on music clubs in the city center. They checked 213 people in three facilities, five of whom lacked a document. Block fines were imposed on the spot.

Violation of the regulation can result in heavy fines, up to 3 million CZK in administrative proceedings. With a block fine on the spot, the sanctions are lower, but they can still total thousands of CZK.

They can be obtained by both visitors to establishments and operators. Inspections may also cover indoor sports grounds. Even on them, people should prove negative to infection and keep spacing during group lessons.