corona prague Archives – Prague Morning

Increasing coronavirus infections in the Czech Republic are likely to result in Norway applying travel restrictions to the country this week.

The move was signalled on Monday by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), which published similar notifications in July before restrictions were applied to travellers from Spain and Belgium.

Norway’s health authorities designated EEA and Schengen countries as ‘green’ or ‘red’ depending on current infection rates. To remain ‘green’, the figure must be under 20 infections per 100,000 residents in total over the past two weeks.

Once a country is ‘red’, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs advises against travel that is not strictly necessary to that country, and self-quarantine is required for travellers returning or arriving from it. This also means people cannot travel from ‘red’ countries to Norway for tourism.

NIPH said on Monday that it would recommend travel advisories for the Czech Republic to be changed to ‘red’ at the next update scheduled for later this week, unless any change in the situation occurs in the meantime.

The final decision on travel advice is taken by the government based on NIPH assessments.

The Czech Republic has exceeded the 20 per 100,000 resident infections threshold, resulting in the Norwegian public health authority’s forthcoming recommendation.

“New figures show that the Czech Republic is at 26.8 new Covid-19 infections per 100,000 residents for the last 14 days, and the trend is increasing. We are therefore now notifying that, unless the situation changes, NIPH will recommend that the Czech Republic become ‘red’ country and thereby encompassed by quarantine rules,” NIPH head of department Line Vold said in the statement.

Updated quarantine rules and travel advice normally comes into effect at midnight on Friday.

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The day-to-day increase of new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Czech Republic has surpassed 200 for the second straight day.

Health Minister Adam Vojtěch says the number of infected reached 247 on Wednesday, the biggest increase since June 28.

One of the latest clusters appeared in Prague where 76 people have been infected in a nightclub.

Vojtěch added that “the government will discuss a possible return of some nationwide restrictions” but did not give any further details.

“I want to wait until Friday and see how the situation develops. If there is no stagnation with the number of new patients, then we will probably have to take certain preventive measures throughout the country,” Vojtěch said.

Most likely, wearing face masks in indoor spaces will become compulsory again and the limit for participants in public events will be reduced. The restrictions should come into effect on Monday, July 27th.

The numbers are mainly influenced by the large outbreak in Moravia-Silesia, but the worsening of the situation is observed in some other regions.

Currently, there are 5,062 people in the country who are sick with the coronavirus, according to Ministry of Health data.

The Czech Republic has had 14,570 cases with 364 deaths.

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The tally of active cases of the new coronavirus in the Czech Republic has risen to 4,764, above the previous high of 4,737 seen in April, health ministry data showed on Sunday.

The new cases are mostly registered in the north-east where a mine outbreak occurred and have so far been milder than before.

The active cases have gone up as the daily has been above 100 over the past few days, outscoring the number of recoveries.

Outbreaks are rising in the region, and Covid-19 is spreading to at-risk groups over the age of 65.

The number of people in hospitals was 135 on Saturday, far below capacities of the national health system as presented by the government.

On Friday, authorities tightened coronavirus restrictions in the Moravian-Silesian region. Under the tightening of restrictions, the compulsory wearing of face coverings has been reintroduced, while restaurant opening hours have been reduced.

Workers crossing the borders of Poland and Slovakia to start their job must submit a negative test every two weeks for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Additionally, checks have been implemented for individuals at border-crossings.

The Czech Republic had 13,885 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection, with 113 new infections on Saturday. So far, 358 people have died.

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The Czech Ministry of the Interior paid 708 million CZK to the Chinese company Eastern Air Logistics for 49 flights transporting protective equipment during the state of emergency.

Facing an acute shortage of protective gear for medical staff in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, the government reached a deal to buy masks and other equipment from China, where the virus first emerged.

The data was provided by the Ministry of the Interior on the basis of the Act on Free Access to Information, Zdopravy.cz wrote today.

The total amount does not include the Ruslan cargo and the transport of material from China by Smartwings and CSA.

The Ministry of the Interior also paid for the last Antonov An-124 cargo plane with medical supplies from Shenzhen to Pardubice. The state paid 18.9 million CZK to Volga Dnepr.

Since March 20, aircraft have carried around 2,000 tons of respirators and other materials from China to the Czech Republic.

On May 4, the Czech Interior Minister and Central Crisis Staff head Jan Hamáček thanked all those who participated in the mission, especially the firefighters and police officers who helped unload and distribute the materials.

A government expert who wishes to remain anonymous sparked the Czech government to take fast action against the coronavirus in a move that likely saved thousands of lives, said Czech Interior Minister Jan Hamáček while discussing the government’s response to the crisis in its early stages.

“The moment I realized that a train was coming at us from the opposite direction was when I saw a mathematical model that, based on the development in Italy and Spain, showed how the number of infected people in our country will rise and when there will be a collapse of the health care system. When the author of the model presented it at the Ministry of the Interior, there was complete silence. We realized that in a matter of weeks, huge trouble will hit us, and I said that the prime minister must see the model,” said Hamáček.

According to the interior minister, the expert in question does not wish to reveal his name as he does not want to be famous.

The Czech Republic was one of the first countries to initiate lockdown measures and close its borders to hard-hit countries like Italy in moves that may account for the country’s comparatively low death and infection rate.

“We’re still working with his team. He has done a huge amount of work for this country. If he agrees, I will thank him publicly, but at this moment, I don’t have his consent,” added Hamáček, who together with this expert, presented the mathematical model to the National Security Council.

At the time, some members of the government, including Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, were hesitant to believe the numbers in the model predicting a catastrophic scenario.

“I kept the numbers on my mobile phone, and every day, I checked the numbers of confirmed cases and it fit the model almost exactly. The prime minister did the same, and when it turned out on the fifth or sixth day that it followed an exponential growth, he understood that we’re in trouble,” said Hamáček, according to whom Babiš reacted “imperatively and quickly.”

Hamáček also said that he was aware that in order to provide medical supplies as quickly as possible, he often had to act regardless of common rules, but he hoped that people would be lenient in judging his actions.

“I admit that I don’t remember much from the period between March 14 and the arrival of the first plane with the supplies. All my co-workers said that I was in a strange state of mind, being on the phone the whole time. It was an unimaginably strenuous period,” Hamáček admitted.

The Czech Republic reported 49 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection on Saturday, keeping the number of newly registered COVID-19 cases under 100 over the past 15 days.

According to figures from the Minister of Health, the total number of COVID-19 now in the country has reached 8,455, and the death toll stands at 296.

At the moment, 183 people are hospitalized with COVID 19, 39 of them are in serious condition.

Nevertheless, laboratories performed fewer tests compared to working days, and COVID-19 was found in 1.16% of respondents.

More than three-fifths of patients have recovered and at the same time, the number of people in hospitals continues to decline. There are currently 175 people in hospitals, 39 in critical condition.

According to the latest data, the Czech Republic registered 1959 people infected with coronavirus, with almost 150 infected per 100 thousand people. Prague is followed by Karlovy Vary Region with 147 infected per 100 thousand inhabitants.

On the contrary, the lowest incidence rate was recorded in South Bohemia, with 28 people infected per 100 thousand inhabitants.

This morning, the first bus to Dresden and Berlin left Prague with 13 people aboard, mostly foreigners. It is the first renewed connection after the travel ban due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The ban on international bus and rail connections has been in force in the Czech Republic since March 14. Earlier last week, the government decided to re-authorize international traffic from May 11.

The first RegioJet bus left Prague to Berlin today at 8.30 am, with a stop in Dresden.

RegioJet plans to return the bus to Prague already today and should leave Berlin in the late afternoon. So far, 20 passengcers have booked the trip. RegioJet plans to renew another bus line from Brno to Vienna. It should start on Monday.

Other bus transport providers have not yet specified when they intend to reopen their foreign transport services, with the lifting of restrictions abroad playing a key role in the decision.

Leo Express is also ready to renew its routes to Poland and Slovakia if passengers are interested. At the moment, they regularly run only selected train connections on the routes Prague – Stare Mesto – Prague and Bohumin – Prague – Bohumin until 31 May 2020 inclusive.

As of Monday, April 27, the rules for crossing state borders have been changed. EU citizens arriving in the Czech Republic for business purposes and university students from EU countries may now come to the Czech Republic.

Czech citizens are able to travel abroad, however, on their return they must submit to 14 days’ quarantine or provide a test with a negative Covid-19 result.

Professional football clubs in the Czech Republic on Tuesday approved a proposal to restart the top two divisions this month after they were suspended by the coronavirus pandemic.

The leagues had already agreed a plan for resuming play, but the clubs had to give it the green light because the competitions are now set to run until July.

Some sponsorship deals and player contracts expire by the end of June when the leagues were originally scheduled to conclude.

Six rounds of games in the regular season and the playoffs remain in the first division, which is now scheduled to be completed by July 15.

Matches will be played without spectators based on the guidelines of public health officials.

The first competition will be the 23rd round of Czech First League which will take place between Teplice and Liberec on May 23, according to local media reports.

The Second League will start in the week after May 25 and can expect playoffs during July, the league association said.

The decision to restart is in line with UEFA’s recommendation for leagues to “explore all possible options” to complete their seasons.

The restart was made possible as the government has been easing its restrictive measures adopted to contain the outbreak.

Reigning champions Slavia Prague are eight points clear of second-placed Viktoria Plzen in the First League.

From May 25, people will be able to go outside without a face mask.

The government approved the new measure today. It will be necessary to keep a safe distance of two meters.

Families and people in shared households will not need to wear masks. If they meet other people in public, they will need to keep a distance of two meters.

Wearing masks will be still mandatory in supermarkets, pharmacies, public transport, shops, taxis, and public institutions.

From tomorrow, May 12th, according to Vojtěch, some medical professionals will not need to wear facemasks, including speech therapists and examining committees at university entrance exams, as long as they keep a safe distance of at least 1.5 meters and a maximum of 15 people in the room.

The number of new coronavirus cases in the Czech Republic has remained under 100 over the past ten days. There were 28 more cases on Sunday.

The Czech Republic had 8,136 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection by Monday afternoon. So far 4,442 people have recovered and 280 people have died.

The number of patients who are actually in hospitals is also gradually decreasing. On Monday morning, 233 people were hospitalized, 42 in critical condition.

In the Czech Republic, 250 children out of more than 8,000 patients have been infected since the beginning of the coronavirus epidemic, according to Deputy Minister of Health Roman Prymula.

He, therefore, considers the risk of spreading the virus after the opening of schools, to be minimal. “Moreover, we made attendance voluntary,” he added.

Wearing face masks became mandatory in the entire Czech Republic on March 19th.

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.

“If it is forbidden to occupy a middle seat due to safety measures on aircraft, the economy class will practically end. It would be ideal to fly on a prepaid flat rate. Domestic flying also has great potential,” says during an interview with E15.cz Oliver Dlouhý, founder and co-owner of Kiwi.com.

“Flights could be cheaper after lockdown due to an “airline price war”, he added. “Airlines will ’price-dump’ low fares so that they have a turnover and pay aircraft leasing. But it has to gradually return to normality, to the golden times of flying,” believes added Dlouhý.

After the gradual release, the main challenge will be how tourists regain confidence in air safety. According to a survey from the USA, 75 percent of people would now be afraid to board a plane.

The low-cost carrier Ryanair backs the introduction of mandatory temperature checks and face masks for passengers and crew when flights resume.

“We’re in dialogue with regulators who are sitting in their bedrooms inventing restrictions such as taking out the middle seats, which is just nonsense. It would have no beneficial effect whatsoever,” says Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary.

He explained: “When this thing is over there is going to be such massive discounting going on that there will be a large spike upward in travel and tourism for a period of time.”

“It’s tricky to understand how many airlines will be able to operate profitably. It will be a much smaller industry,” said Brian Pearce, Iata’s chief economist, talking about the onboard social distancing proposals.

His team argues that social distancing through vacant middle seats is no guarantee against the spread of coronavirus on planes. Instead, Iata supports the wearing of face masks by passengers for safer flying.

Airlines will only be able to increase airfares once passenger numbers recover, but this will only be by 2021 at the earliest, estimates Iata.

Can you catch the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from food? How should I do laundry now? Mundane household tasks have turned into a source of uncertainty and anxiety as families grapple with getting the basics done all while keeping their loved ones safe and healthy. Widespread misinformation about the virus puts everyone at risk and adds to the stress of having to filter fact from fiction.

While research into the COVID-19 virus is ongoing, we know the virus is transmitted through direct contact with respiratory droplets of an infected person (through coughing and sneezing), and touching surfaces contaminated with the virus. The virus may survive on surfaces for a few hours up to several days.

The Deputy Health Minister, Roman Prymula suggests that “you should store the disinfected food in the fridge for two days before eating it, and when the two days have passed, do everything you can to avoid touching the food packaging,” he added.

Prymula points out that “the most important thing is to avoid contact with the surface of the package so that I don’t really touch something that I then bring into the mouth – like a spoon -, because it can be contaminated,” he explains.

“Previous learnings have suggested that coronavirus may persist in the air, paper, and tissue for up to three hours, on copper for up to four hours, on cardboard up to 24 hours, on cloth for 48 hours and on plastic and stainless steel for up to 72 hours,” says Prymula.

“I would recommend creating a so-called “infectious place”, where I would leave the things outside and not carry them anywhere,” he added.

Food packaging and handling precautions

Remove any unnecessary packaging and dispose into a waste bin with a lid.
Remove food from take-out containers, place on a clean plate, and dispose of the container.
Packaging like cans can be wiped clean with a disinfectant before being opened or stored.
Wash unpackaged produce, such as fruit and vegetables, thoroughly under running water.
Wash your hands with soap and water, or use an alcohol-based hand rub, immediately afterward.

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