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Allocations from the EU’s proposed recovery fund should be based on the downturn in countries’ growth due to the coronavirus crisis and not on the basis of their past economic performance, according to Czech PM Andrej Babis.

“We will see the impact of the pandemic next year and this impact will be mainly in GDP. So this should be the most, the biggest criteria,” he said on Friday on arrival for a summit of European Union leaders in Brussels to discuss a joint recovery plan.

The Czech Republic “was one of the best on unemployment, one of the best-concerning debt to GDP and also we have growth – and it is not possible to penalize successful countries because they were successful,” Reuters quoted him as saying. “Money should be distributed correctly and fairly,” the PM added.

“The approval of the agreement and the EU budget for the next period is positive news for the domestic economy, as the total amount of money allocated to the Czech Republic will be higher than proposed in the original plan,” said ING Bank’s chief economist Jakub Seidler.

According to Deloitte’s chief economist for the Czech Republic, David Marek, the adoption of the recovery fund, albeit in a compromised form, is essential for the Czech Republic.

“For the Czech economy, it is fundamental that thanks to this fund, the recovery of European economies can be faster and more sustainable,” he said.

After almost five days of often tense negotiations, EU leaders reached a “historic” deal on the bloc’s long-term budget and coronavirus recovery package to the tune of €750 billion to rebuild EU economies.

The deal earmarks huge sums for providing funds to businesses to rebound hurt by the economic collapse caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, roll out new measures to reform economies over the long haul, and invest to help protect against “future crises”.

The European Commission will borrow the money on financial markets and distribute just under half of it — €390 billion — as grants to the hardest-hit members of the bloc, with the rest, provided as loans.

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The Czech Republic is interested in having normal relations with Russia, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis told CTK on Wednesday.

“We are interested in normal relations with Russia,” he stressed. He expressed hope that the issues arising in the relations between both states would be regulated on the outcomes of mutual talks. He added that the Czech Republic approaches the organization of such talks “very responsibly.”

Babis expressed hope that the Russian-Czech talks stipulated under the 1993 Friendship and Cooperation Treaty would lead to the meeting between Russian and Czech leaders. “The fact that the Czech-Russian relations are not ideal is not surprising neither to us nor to Russians. This is why we have agreed to begin Czech-Russian consultations,” the PM noted.

During the talks, the parties will assess the state of Russian-Czech relations and regulate the existing disputes. The Czech government is interested in developing cooperation between both states, Babis added.

The Czech PM’s words came as a follow-up to the earlier statement made by Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that so far, no high-or top-level talks are planned between Russia and the Czech Republic.

When asked about the state of Russian-Czech relations due to recent events, namely the arrest of Ivan Safronov, advisor to the head of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency, for alleged handover of sensitive information to the Czech special services, Peskov mentioned another incident: the demolition of the monument to Soviet marshal Ivan Konev in Prague.

“Recently, our relations with the Czech Republic have been marred by certain events and certain unfriendly steps taken by the municipal and Czech government,” Peskov noted. “This has had a negative effect on the general state of our bilateral relations, however, Russia calls for good relations with all countries, including the Czech Republic,” the Kremlin spokesman said.

The border between the Czech Republic and Slovakia could be the first to reopen during the coronavirus crisis in what could end up looking a lot like former Czechoslovakia, said Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovič.

“About three weeks ago, I approached the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš about this issue, and as the situation has currently improved, we could be the first to open the borders,” said the Slovak prime minister in an interview with the pluska.sk.

Matovič also referred to the “possibility of creating something like Czechoslovakia again so that the first borders that fall within Central Europe are between Slovakia and the Czech Republic.”

At the same time, the Slovak prime minister admitted that he would like this to happen as soon as possible, but currently, there is a technical problem.

“Czechs have a rule that if someone enters their territory and spends less than 24 hours there, they do not have to get tested. What might happen is that if someone wants to get to Slovakia, the individual could go through the Czech Republic and thus avoid quarantine and testing. That could cause disaster in Slovakia very quickly,” said Matovič.

The Slovak prime minister explained that Slovaks living in, for example, Sheffield, England, could start traveling to Slovakia via the Czech Republic without being checked.

Indeed, a group of Slovak Romas living in the United Kingdom returned to the country some time ago. As they did not comply with the quarantine rules, COVID-19 has started to spread in five Roma settlements in eastern Slovakia, leading the authorities to lock down these areas.

Martin Klus, the deputy Slovak minister of foreign affairs, has previously confirmed that negotiations about easing the situation on the borders are underway between Czechia, Slovakia, and Austria.

“We can create a mini-Schengen area,” said Klus, predicting that the plan could take place as soon as this summer. A crucial prerequisite will be a positive development in the epidemiological situation in the three countries.

The state of emergency in the Czech Republic is likely to end on May 17, as the government will not request its further extension, said PM Andrej Babiš in an interview with Prima Television on Sunday.

On Monday, the government will discuss further changes in the wearing of face masks. According to the Minister of the Interior, Jan Hamáček, they could be obligatory only in closed public spaces, such as shops, offices, or public transport.

“It’s important to understand that the virus will still be here and we can tighten the measures again,” stated Hamáček.

According to the Prime Minister, the Czech Republic has managed to prevent the uncontrolled spread of the COVID-19 disease. “We were the first country to suspend flights to Italy and other countries and introduce the mandatory wearing of face masks. Moreover, we are the second country that is relaxing emergency measures,” Babiš pointed out.

According to Hamáček and Babiš, face masks could be mandatory only indoors: “It is necessary to discuss how to proceed with the face masks. They could be mandatory indoors, ie in shops, cinemas, and public transport. Outdoor, the government will only recommend continuing wearing them,” Hamáček added.

From Monday, May 11, all beauty services will be able to reopen, customers in restaurants will have to sit at least 1.5 meters from other tables, but they won’t have to wear facemasks while eating and drinking.

Cinemas and theaters can reopen on May 11 as well. Audiences attending movie screenings and theater performances will be limited to 100 people.

The Czech Republic had 8,095 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection by Sunday morning. So far 4,448 people have recovered and 276 people have died.

The first scheduled flight to be resumed from the Prague Airport will be KLM’s between Prague and Amsterdam in early May.

The carrier officially announced it on Tuesday morning.

The first KLM plane should land in Prague on May 4, at 10:40. KLM will deploy its smallest aircraft: the Embraer E-175 for 88 passengers.

From the beginning of July, the company should expand the connection up to four flights a day according to current sales.

Prague Airport spokeswoman Kateřina Pavlíková said that “as soon as the airlines show interest in flying to Prague again, we are ready to start handling almost immediately.”

KLM is an exception among carriers. Today, for example, Ryanair extended its shutdown for another week. The Irish-based company scheduled to launch a large part of the flights from Prague on May 8. The next possible date is May 15.

Today, the only scheduled flight with regular passengers in Prague has been the one to Minsk, operated by Belavia. Together with Bulgaria Air, these are the only two airlines with regular operations at Vaclav Havel Airport.

Based on a new survey by the research agency Behavio, almost two-thirds of Czechs (63 percent) intend to spend this year’s summer holiday in the Czech Republic, even if it would be possible to travel abroad.

Around a fifth of Czechs are not going on vacation this year.

Prague Public Transport Company (DPP) announced today to have resumed the operation of the cable car in the Prague Zoo.

At the same time, it will increase the operation of bus line No. 112, leading to the Zoo and Botanical Gardens. However, the cable car to Petřín will reopen on 11 May.

In connection with the gradual increase in the number of public transport passengers, ticket inspectors came back to work on Monday, April 27.

DPP has so far partially deployed them for other jobs related to the COVID-19 pandemic, as filling and distributing disinfectants in the metro stations.

The Museum of Public Transport plans to reopen on Saturday, June 13, while the historic tram line 41 should resume on Saturday, May 16.

From today, shops the size of up to 2,500 square meters that have their own entrance and are not located in large shopping centers are free to reopen, as are driving schools, gyms and fitness centers, although without the use of showers and changing rooms.

The number of coronavirus cases in the Czech Republic reached 7404 on Monday morning, up by 52 on Sunday, the smallest daily increase since March 14.

Over 2,500 people have recovered, 221 people have died.

Global leaders are launching an initiative with the World Health Organization (WHO) to accelerate the development of coronavirus drugs, tests, and vaccines and ensure equal access to all countries.

“I represented the Czech Republic at a videoconference with prime ministers and presidents from Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Austria, Denmark, Norway, and Greece,” said PM Andrej Babis.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said that “these countries reacted quickly and intensively and so have come through the crisis better than others”.

“The geography is very different but they are smaller countries, smart countries,” Kurz said, adding that the conference had focused on “how countries can best start up again, stimulate the economy and keep the virus under control at the same time”.

Kurz also said researchers from the countries in the group would be co-operating on work towards a possible vaccine and other treatments.

The aim was for the countries concerned to avoid becoming dependent on global superpowers in reacting to the crisis.

Singapore is also part of the group but its prime minister could not take part in the conference due to technical difficulties.

“The world needs these tools and needs them fast,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the group. “We are facing a common threat which we can only defeat with a common approach,” he said.

More than 2.7 million people worldwide have been infected with COVID-19 and nearly 190,000 have died since the virus emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, according to a Reuters tally.

More than 100 potential COVID-19 vaccines are being developed, including six already in clinical trials, said Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of the GAVI vaccine alliance, a public-private partnership that leads immunization campaigns in poor countries.

Seven percent of Czechs who were active in terms of work before the coronavirus pandemic have lost their jobs, according to the latest survey “Life during a pandemic” conducted by PAQ Research and IDEA AntiCovid initiative.

Job losses have now occurred for 24 percent of the self-employed individuals and 3 percent of employees.

More than a third of employees said that their employment contract or work activities were adjusted for reduced hours (11 percent), reduced wages (8 percent) and benefits (8 percent). Others have been forced to take care of their children (6 percent), experienced forced leave (9 percent), and had a loss of income from an employment contract (4 percent).

The decline in the number of hours worked has stabilized compared to the end of March. About 30 to 35 percent of people working before the epidemic claims they now work up to 20 hours a week, and about 50 to 55 percent have maintained their full-time working hours of 40 hours a week or more.

Roughly a quarter of respondents who were active in terms of work before the epidemic have a relatively strong fear of losing their job.

More than 40 percent of people whose working conditions have changed, as well as about a third of people with lower qualifications and those who were poor before the epidemic, are also fearful of this outcome.

The number of those partially affected by the decline in household income has increased slightly since the end of March.

About 36 percent of households participating in the survey have savings that would be enough for a maximum of one month if they did not have any other income.

Roughly seven percent of people belong to a high-risk category, in which households have lost at least half of income and have savings for only one month. This group greatly consists of the self-employed, single parents and people whose working hours have changed.

The survey shows that 14 percent of households are still considering some radical solutions, such as loans, a sale of a property, and the search for cheaper housing. This applies to about a quarter of respondents from the group identified as vulnerable.

Thanks to the mortgage and rent payments deferment, the situation for households has improved, however, there are still some households that already had problems repaying long-term financial liabilities even before the crisis.

Škoda Auto has announced it will be resuming production at its Czech plants on 27 April while maintaining protective measures to prevent employees from becoming infected by the coronavirus.

The car manufacturer has approved a set of comprehensive measures for all areas of the business.

More than 80 individual precautions, defined together with the social partner KOVO Union, include both specific steps to keep the workforce healthy and organizational provisions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace.

Production at the three Czech sites has been suspended since 18 March 2020.

The list of precautions defined by Skoda includes, for example, that all employees put on a face mask when entering the factory premises. This is also applicable to external staff. Škoda Auto will provide all colleagues with the masks required, which will have to be worn at all times whilst at work.

Each shift has been allocated with additional time to clean tools, telephones, and keyboards as well as any materials and surfaces. Furthermore, all areas will be cleaned and disinfected even more frequently.

Škoda Auto has also made some changes to daily operations in order to protect the workforce. These include adapting the way staff shuttles operate, and altering procedures at factory gates, reception points and in the canteens, as well as how working hours are recorded.

Other provisions have been made for staff in production to work in smaller, fixed teams. Briefings at shift changeover are to be as short as possible, and more break time areas have been made available in order to keep personal contact and the risk of infection to a minimum.

The precautions to be taken after production resumes are set in three stages. Until further notice, stage 1 will see all of the measures apply in full.

In stage 2, certain provisions will then be lifted. Stage 3 will allow for further, gradual easing of the measures over a prolonged period of time, ensuring this is done responsibly and in a manner that keeps people safe.

At an appropriate time, the end of this third phase will enable normal daily operations to resume, meaning any currently applicable restrictions on entering the factory premises, e.g. for visitors, will be lifted.

General liability insurance is a type of insurance policy that can help businesses should they run into problems. Such problems can come with a high cost, but general liability insurance can help cover such costs. Read more about the importance of insurance especially, specifically for car rental companies.

From March 19th in the entire Czech Republic has been mandatory to wear face/surgical masks (or at least scarves or bandannas) fully covering the nose and mouth when going out in public.

During today’s press conference, Deputy Health Minister Roman Prymula announced that coronavirus countermeasures, such as wearing face masks, the use of disinfectants, and social distancing will be in place at least until the end of June.

According to the government’s regulations, police officers can impose an on-the-spot fine of CZK 10,000 to anyone found not wearing the correct equipment in public.

The Czech Republic had 7,236 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection by the end of Friday. So far 2,371 people have recovered and 214 people have died.

On Thursday, April 23, the Czech cabinet lifted a ban on its citizens traveling abroad for reasons other than work following an improvement in conditions of the coronavirus outbreak.

Czech citizens and foreigners with permission to enter the country have two options for arrival in the Czech Republic from the midnight on Friday 24 April, 2020: present a negative coronavirus test upon return or be subject to two-week quarantine.

Later today, PM Babiš stated that “we had theoretically opened the borders, but in practice, people cannot get anywhere. Flights are mostly canceled and other governments won’t allow people from other countries to enter unless they have a valid coronavirus test. The lifted ban on travel abroad mainly applies to business trips.”

According to Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, the possibility of traveling outside the Czech border is “only theoretical”. He announced it during an interview with iRozhlas on Friday morning.

In his opinion, “the Czech Republic managed the epidemic very well and is one of the ‘world leaders’ in this fight.”

“We had theoretically opened the borders, but in practice, people cannot get anywhere. Flights are mostly canceled and other governments won’t allow people from other countries to enter unless they have a valid coronavirus test. The lifted ban on travel abroad mainly applies to business trips,” added the Prime Minister.

However, travel conditions are regularly negotiated with neighboring countries. Babiš took part in video conferences with presidents and prime ministers from Austria, Denmark, Norway, Australia, and Greece, which are successfully managing the epidemic.

There is criticism that the announcement sowed confusion, with no immediate information on when foreign visitors would be allowed to re-enter, which would help Prague’s beleaguered tourism industry.

“Has the government opened the borders only for Czech citizens or for foreigners who would like to come to the Czech Republic?” tweeted Jiří Pehe, a political analyst and director of New York University in Prague.

According to the Prime Minister, “the mass tourism is still unrealistic, although now we allow citizens from traveling across borders. “But I recommend people to stay in the Czech Republic. It is safe here, we manage the epidemic very well compared to other countries,” says Babiš.

“Now we need to open shops, restaurants, and other businesses,” he concludes.

On Thursday evening, the Czech cabinet lifted a ban on its citizens traveling abroad for reasons other than work following an improvement in conditions of the coronavirus outbreak.

“It is possible to travel abroad, even for a holiday. But when one returns, they have to be COVID-negative, with proof by a test, or go into a two-week quarantine,” Vojtech said at a televised news conference.

Restrictions are also being lifted on movement within the country, with groups of up to 10 people permitted to gather. Previous rules limited outdoor gatherings to two.

All Czechs will have to stay at home under the quarantine, which comes into force on Sunday, March 15 at midnight.

The decision was made to protect the most vulnerable people in the country, PM Babis said, and the measures will take effect from midnight March 16 to 6 am March 24, adding the government recommended that those who can work from home or take holidays.

“In the present situation, we see the gathering of people in shopping centres and in restaurants as too great a risk,” Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said. “By no means do we want to restrict the sale of food, pharmaceuticals, druggist goods, and fuel and other essentials. People do not need to worry: food supplies remain unrestricted and it really is not necessary for people to empty store-shelves of goods.”

In practical terms, people will be allowed to leave their homes only to buy food and medicine, commute to work, go to hospitals and banks, or take trips related to the care of the young and the elderly.

People throughout the country should not leave their homes other than for work or emergencies, Babis said.

The prohibition the free movement won’t apply to the necessary journeys to family or loved ones, to the provision of essential necessities of life, such as the purchase of food, medicines or sanitary goods, animal feed, the provision of necessary banking or postal services or refueling.

The government encourages employers to outsource their employees if they can do it at their place of residence. Furthermore, they should limit the performance of work that is not strictly necessary for the operation of the company.

The announcement marks the most extensive efforts taken by the government to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Czech police will be assisted by 2,096 soldiers and 400 customs officers, Prime Minister said.

“Only fundamental restrictions like this can help stop the spread of the infection in our country,” said Adam Vojtěch, Minister of Health. “Even though it is not pleasant for any of us, this is about protecting our health.”

“We don’t forbid anyone to take a walk. It is possible to go to the park, for example” said Interior Minister Jan Hamáček. At the same time, he criticized citizens who crowded in front of the restaurants’ entrance and consumed alcohol outside. “That seems irresponsible to me,” he said.

After Italy, Spain, and Austria, the Czech Republic is the fourth European country to order restrictions on population movements.

The restrictions come a day after the government closed most shops and restaurants for at least 10 days. Other measures include a ban on nearly all international travel from March 16 and closing schools.

The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the Czech Republic has now reached 253. Over 5,000 people have been quarantined.

Two-thirds of those diagnosed were infected abroad, one third within the Czech Republic.

The most common source of infection is Italy, with 74.5 percent of people who tested positive in the Czech Republic having contracted the disease there.

Governments around the world have stepped up restrictions on the movement of their citizens to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed nearly 5,800 people with over 153,000 infected globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Prague, Sunday morning#prague #czechrepublic #COVIDー19 pic.twitter.com/NL4skpFwPd

— Chris Lettner (@ChrisLettner) March 15, 2020

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