State of Emergency Extended for Two More Weeks

The regional governors agreed to extend the state of emergency for 14 more days.  Interior Minister Jan Hamáček (CSSD) said that the priority will be the return of children to school.

“Today we agreed that all governors will ask for a state of emergency. At the moment, it is the only way to manage the crisis situation in our country,” said the Moravian-Silesian Governor Ivo Vondrák (ANO).

The current state of emergency expires on Sunday, February 14. In the morning, the governors discussed the conditions under which they would request the declaration of a new state of emergency with the Minister of Health, Jan Blatný (ANO).

The South Bohemian governor and chairman of the Association of Regions Martin Kuba (ODS) stated that “the governors are asking the children to return to school on March 1.”

The governor of Pardubice Martin Netolický remarked that the regions require the government to communicate to the public a plan for the coming days and weeks regarding the release of certain measures.

“We want to have a clear timetable for gradual release at further negotiations. We also require self-testing in companies and large employers.”

The governors want regular meetings every ten days of the association of regions with the government on new possible adjustments of anti-epidemic measures.

The Minister of the Interior, Hamáček, thanked the regional governors. “We have agreed on further joint action in a situation that is very complex from an epidemiological point of view. The priority is the return of children to school, we will continuously consult with the region on the adjustments of the measures,” he wrote on Twitter.

Mayors and independents have published the conditions for the request of the governors for a new state of emergency. Among others:

• cancellation of curfew after 21
• lifting of office hours restrictions
• opening of services under conditions
• individual ordering, one customer per 15m2 and at the same time use of FFP 2 respirator by client and staff
• opening of shops – use of FFP 2 respirator or surgical drapes
• open galleries, museums, exhibitions – capacity limitation to 50%, use of FFP2 respirators
• FFP2 respirators in the workplace, mandatory testing in companies
• accelerated adoption of a pandemic law
• preparation of gradual return of children to school