According to the Minister of Health Adam Vojtěch, the compulsory use of facemasks on public transport may return from October or November.

“In autumn, the normal seasonal flu could compound health risks stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. Additional tests will also be needed to exclude other diseases,” says Vojtech.

“The incidence of the disease will determine whether we need to wear face masks again. We need to prevent the spread of infection when other respiratory viruses will circulate,” added Vojtěch.

Currently, masks are mandatory only in the Prague metro and in public transport in the Moravian-Silesian and Jihlava regions. It should also be worn in inpatient facilities and nursing homes, as well as indoors at public events.

The compulsory use of the face mask was introduced by the Czech government on March 19, when citizens were “obliged to wear any form of respiratory protection in public places, including in the open air”.

The Czech Republic had 13,238 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection by Tuesday morning, with 64 new infections on Monday. So far 8,373 people have recovered and 353 people have died.

Although the virus is still circulating in Prague, the capital city has only seen a residual amount of new Covid-19 cases in recent days.

At the beginning of April, the Czech-made video #Masks4All by Petr Ludwig and Aneta Kernová in English language was watched by millions of people worldwide and featured on CNN.

The video encouraged people across the world to wear face masks during the global pandemic to slow down the spread of coronavirus.

There were 116 new COVID-19 cases reported in Croatia in the last 24 hours, the most in a 24-hour period since the first recorded case back in February, the national crisis management team said in a statement on Friday.

As Jutarnji reported, the Civil Protection Headquarters have reintroduced a number of restrictions, including the obligatory wearing of face masks in shops.

As of Monday, 13 July, wearing protective masks is mandatory for all medical staff, persons visiting their relatives in hospitals, workers in the hospitality industry, people using public transport and in shops.

Guests in catering facilities will not have to wear masks.

Speaking to NOVA TV the Interior Minister, Davor Bozinovic, said that “masks in shops will be obligatory from the beginning of next week. It doesn’t have to be a medical mask, but I reiterate, autumn could be a more serious challenge, and then the measures could be a little tighter.”

“We have also discussed the situation on the border. It has improved significantly but considering the worsening of the epidemiological situation in neighboring countries, we will definitely make criteria for entry into Croatia stricter and introduce 14-day self-isolation as well as shorter periods of self-isolation if a person takes a PCR test,” said Health Minister Vili Beros.

According to the Croatian Institute of Public Health, 3,672 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the country since February 25.

As of Friday afternoon, 118 patients had succumbed to the disease, and 2,377 had recovered. The National Civil Protection Headquarters said on Friday that 91,486 people had been tested since February, 1,722 of them in the last 24 hours.

 

 

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