Prague Castle Administration has ordered 695 face masks (for a total value of almost 1.2 million CZK), which will be used primarily by its employees to protect against coronavirus. Face masks are also very effective against other biological threats.

The same type of masks is used by the US army.

“Over 400 employees work at Prague Castle, almost half of whom are in daily contact with tourists from all over the world,” said to Aktualne.cz David Šebek, spokesman for the Prague Castle.

He added that a certain number of masks will also be used by the Office of the President of the Republic.

The face masks were ordered by the Czech company Nanologix corporation, which developed the unique Respira masks in cooperation with the Technical University of Liberec. “It is designed against biological threats. It will detect not only coronavirus but also other viruses such as Ebola, SARS, anthrax, plague”, said company director František Bauer.

“We export them to about 20 countries around the world, from Washington DC, to the US Delta Force in Afghanistan, Vietnam, and Qatar. It’s a really versatile type of mask,” added Bauer.

The number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in the Czech Republic has risen to twelve. Several dozen people are awaiting the results of tests for the virus.

All the patients registered positive contracted the virus abroad and suffer from a mild form of the disease.