czech Archives – Page 2 of 21

Slovenia has opened its borders to citizens of 14 states, including the Czech Republic, who can now travel to and from Slovenia without any coronavirus restrictions, the government said on its website on Monday.

The other countries are Greece, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany, Switzerland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Slovakia and Liechtenstein.

The government also introduced an obligatory 14-day quarantine for everyone coming to Slovenia from North Macedonia, excluding diplomats, transport workers, and those passing through Slovenia without an overnight stay.

The move follows a surge in coronavirus cases in North Macedonia over recent days.

Slovenia, which in May became the first European state to declare an end to its coronavirus epidemic, has over the past few weeks opened its borders to citizens of neighbouring countries Croatia, Hungary, and Austria.

Slovenia has so far reported 1,485 coronavirus cases and 109 deaths. It introduced a general lockdown in the middle of March and has been gradually lifting it since April 20.

The Czech Republic allows from today gatherings of up to 500 people as coronavirus infections remained among the lowest in Europe.

“If the epidemiological situation remains favorable, the limit will grow to 1,000 on June 22,” Minister of Health Vojtech said of the size of gatherings that would be permissible.

Cinemas, theatres, and concert halls are no longer bound to respect strict social distancing rules that severely limited the size of the audience. Outdoor areas of pubs, restaurants, and cafes no longer need to close by 11 pm.

Some credit the success in stemming infections to the mandatory face mask rule, which remains compulsory in shops, offices, and on public transport.

Interior Minister Jan Hamacek credited an early warning from an unnamed expert encouraging the government to act quickly in early March.

“When I saw a mathematical model using data from Italy, I realized we were facing a train wreck,” Hamacek added.

“We still do not underestimate the situation,” said Vojtech. “The virus is still here and that is why people should follow the rules. Wear the face mask, and keep a safe distance when possible” he added.

The Czech Republic had 9,628 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection by Monday morning. So far 6,891 people have recovered and 327 people have died.

The Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jacek Czaputowicz has travelled to Prague on his first foreign visit since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

During his talks with the Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tomáš Petříček, Minister Czaputowicz expressed his expectation that the Czech authorities would reciprocate Poland’s decision to allow the transit of Czech citizens through Poland.

Currently, many Poles working in Austria are forced to take a detour through Germany instead.

The head of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs assessed that the epidemic situation in all the countries of the region, especially in the Visegrad Group countries, is much better compared to most other EU states.

There had earlier been suggestions that this fact could lead to a decision of the Visegrad Group states (Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia) to reopen the borders of the four states in a first phase before reopening to the rest of the EU.

The Czech FA Minister stated the country was ready to fully open its borders with countries which have a similar epidemiological situation by mid-June.

He also asked the Polish side to consider reopening additional border crossings leading into the Czech provinces of Liberec and Hradec Králové.

According to Minister Czaputowicz, the trend of new coronavirus cases in the respective countries will have to determine the final course of action, but he believes that it will be possible to travel between Poland and Hungary before the summer holidays begin.

On Monday, May 25, restaurants, and bars in the Czech Republic will be able to reopen their indoor premises. The largest brewery in the country, Plzeňský Prazdroj, decided to mark this event with an unusual advertising campaign.

The promotion is called První pivo je na nás (First Beer On Us). However, despite the name, the rules are slightly different.

Every customer who orders a beer in any pub serving Pilsner Urquell on tap will receive a second beer for free.

“We decided to celebrate this moment with the biggest event in the history of the Czech breweries,” states the website.

First, you need to buy your first beer and once you are done with it, a waiter will bring you a second one for free.

“We want to thank people for their responsible behavior during quarantine and at the same time urge them to return to a normal life, and meet with friends in pubs and restaurants,” said Eva Andrejcakova, marketing manager of Plzeňský Prazdroj.

The promotion will last from May 25 to June 7 (anyway, restaurants are free to determine different specific days) and is limited to one beer per person.

The campaign was created by Triad Advertising agency in cooperation with Stink Films production. The spot was directed by Jakub Jirásek.

“We created the biggest beer invitation to thank the Czechs and Slovaks and at the same time support a positive mood. Our nations were in many ways a model for other countries,” explains Petra Jankovičová from Triad.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has called the Czech Senate resolution condemning the Armenian Genocide “null and void.”

“The fact that the decision was taken in an environment with few members in the Senate at a time when the whole world was struggling with the coronavirus pandemic reveals the insidious mentality behind it,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said, “it is not possible to impose more than a historical discussion on the events of 1915, as determined by Articles 173 and 231 of the 2015 judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, which was repeated by the second decision in 2017.”

“Attempts to define a historical issue in the interests of politics and certain groups are unacceptable,” it said.

“We call on those who want to present a one-sided view of history to consider President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s letter that expresses an understanding of sharing the common grief sent to Turkey’s Armenian Patriarch on the occasion of April 24.

“We invite the Czech Parliament to respect the provisions of the Lausanne Peace Treaty, international court decisions and the historical and current sources of international law,” it said.

It noted that Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek said the decision does not reflect the attitude of the Czech government.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry welcomed the adoption of the resolution, noting that the unanimous decision of the Czech Senate is a “major contribution to the restoration of historical justice and respect for the memory of the victims.”

“It is also a key message in preventing genocides and new crimes against humanity,” the Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said.

In April 2017 the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament had approved a resolution, condemning the genocide of Armenians and other religious and national minorities in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.

Turkey objects to presenting the 1915 incidents as “genocide,” rather calling them a tragedy in which both Turks and Armenians suffered casualties in the heat of World War I.

Turkey’s position on the events of 1915 is that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia took place when some sided with the invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.

Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia as well as international experts to examine the issue.

Passenger traffic at Prague Airport is slowly coming back.

In April, the airport saw an unprecedented drop in traffic of 99.6 percent, handling 5031 passengers. At the end of the month, there were only two regular lines, to Minsk and Sofia.

In May, however, the situation is starting to change. At the beginning of the month, KLM started daily flights to Amsterdam, as well as the direct Eurowings flight to Düsseldorf.

Czech Airlines is currently flying to Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt am Main. Air travel to and from Stockholm is set to be reinstated from May 21 and to Bucharest from May 25.

The carries plans to resume operation on its lines to Kiev and Odessa later in May, provided mandatory quarantine restrictions are terminated in Ukraine by then.

Lufthansa, Air France, and Finnair are resuming flights

In June, other airlines should gradually increase their connections. The flight to Frankfurt starting from June 1 has already been announced by Lufthansa.

Air France will start flying from Prague to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport from June 3. Initially, it will fly twice a week, increasing to four flights a week by the end of June. From July, the Finnish carrier Finnair plans to renew the flight to Helsinki.

Last year, Prague Airport handled a record 17.8 million passengers.

As far as tourists are concerned, it is not yet completely clear when the Czech Republic will start opening up. Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček said that this is likely to happen in July, provided that visitors show some sort of test.

The Czech Republic reported 111 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday. This is the highest daily increase since April 21.

The laboratories performed 7349 tests. The ratio of infected COVID-19 compared to the number of people tested rose to 1.51 percent on Monday. It is the highest percentage from the beginning of May.

The rise is partly due to an outbreak reported by state-owned coal miner OKD at its Darkov mine near the eastern town of Karvina, close to the Polish border, Czech Radio reported.

The Ministry of Health published the new data today (Tuesday, May 19) at 9 am.

The Czech Republic had 8,594 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection by Tuesday morning. So far 5,642 people have recovered and 299 people have died.

In the first week after the reopening, IKEA stores in the Czech Republic were visited by 135,650 people. In the year-on-year comparison, IKEA doubled the sales. The store in Prague’s Černý Most between May 11 and 15 saw a 28 percent increase in attendance compared to last year.

Meanwhile, the government eased the regulation which obliges people to wear face masks in public. As of Tuesday, May 19, office workers will not have to wear masks at the workplace if they observe the social distancing requirements.

Czechs no longer need to wear face masks in most public spaces starting on May 25, in the latest easing of restrictions it put in place to curb the new coronavirus outbreak.

But people will soon only need masks on public transport, in shops and in other closed public spaces that also include theaters and cinemas. The government kept in place a recommendation for people to wear them in open-air spaces.

The government is also planning to further ease travel to and from countries deemed safe of risks from the coronavirus from June 8, Health Minister Adam Vojtech said on Monday.

From 26 May, it will be possible to cross borders and checks will only be random. However, it will still be mandatory to prove a negative test for COVID-19 when entering the country. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Jan Hamáček (CSSD) stated today.

“Today, the government has agreed that the border regime will be relaxed from 26 May: it will be possible to cross it at several border crossings. Checks by health authorities and the police will be less frequent and only random,” said Hamáček.

However, the obligation to submit a negative test for COVID-19 when entering the Czech Republic will continue to apply,“ Hamáček said.

Austria has already abolished border controls, opening all crossings with the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. Checks for coronavirus are also random.

According to data from the Police of the Czech Republic, between 16 March and 15 May, the Czech police checked 1,552,000 vehicles departing from the Czech Republic and 1,637,000 vehicles arriving in the country.

Police denied the departure of 14,000 people and stopped 24,000 people from entering the Czech Republic.

The European Commission on Wednesday called on EU member states to gradually begin to ease the border restrictions they have adopted due to the spread of the coronavirus. At the same time, it recommended opening borders between states with the favorable development of the coronavirus spread first.

dir=”ltr”>Vláda se dnes shodla, že se od 26. 5. uvolní režim na hranicích: bude je možné překročit na více hraničních přechodech a kontrola bude pouze namátková. Dál však bude platit (až na platné výjimky) povinnost předložit při vstupu do ČR negativní test na covid-19.

— Jan Hamáček (@jhamacek) May 18, 2020

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.

The Czech government could buy up to 100% of airline operator Smartwings, the owner of Czech Airlines, or offer the national flag carrier state-guaranteed loans, Industry Minister Karel Havlicek said on Saturday.

The government would discuss the situation with Smartwings and a decision should be reached by the end of June. He said the group was of strategic interest.

Smartwings said it welcomed any discussions. “We still believe that further debate about support for the company, which employs 2,500 people, will play out in a businesslike manner,” the group said in a statement.

Havlicek said any government move would be an investment, adding the group could be sold later, possibly for a profit.

“We are not saying that it will happen but I look out for the interests of transport and industry. In this view, I think it is necessary to protect this type of firm, not only this type but others also,” he said.

The government has previously raised the possibility of guaranteeing loans for the group.

Smartwings’ Czech Airlines is set to resume flights on Monday after a disruption lasting a month and a half.

Smartwings is controlled by Czech businessman Jiri Simane and partners, who own 50.1% of the group. Chinese state-owned CITIC holds 49.9%. CITIC could not be immediately reached for comment.

The airline group handled 8.2 million passengers in 2019 and is the biggest operator out of Prague Airport.

“Austria will open all borders with the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary from midnight on Saturday, May 16,” said today the Austrian Ministry of the Interior.

The full opening of the borders is planned on June 15, the APA agency reported.

At the same time, Austria has struck the same border-opening agreement with Switzerland and Liechtenstein as the one it previously announced with Germany, to fully allow travel from June 15.

“Inspections by health authorities and the police will be less frequent and only random,” the ministry said in a statement.

“Our goal is to try to give as much freedom and as little restriction as possible. This is another small step towards normality, especially for people in border areas,” added the ministry.

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On May 12, the Swiss government announced it would reopen 15 border crossings with Austria, France, and Italy, in eight cantons, in its second phase of the partial easing of the COVID-19 temporary restrictions.

The French Minister of Interior has agreed with his German counterpart Interior Minister Horst Seehofer to reopen the common borders by June 15, which restrictions have been put in place in a bid to contain the flow of the COVID-19.

Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia have decided to open their common borders so their citizens can freely move between the three, as of May 15. The Baltic states have decided to abolish an entry ban for non-essential purposes as they assert that the situation regarding the Coronavirus pandemic and the level of infections is similar in all three, while at the same time abolishing a requirement of two weeks quarantine for travelers.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte will open Italy’s national borders and allow citizens to move freely within the country starting June 3, a key step in his effort to revive the economy after more than two months of lockdown.

Although Italy never formally closed its borders and has allowed people to cross back and forth for work or health reasons, it banned movement for tourism and imposed a two-week isolation period for new arrivals.

But from 3 June, all visitors will be allowed back into the country and will no longer be obliged to self-isolate.

Italians will also be able to move between regions, though local authorities can limit travel in specific areas if infection numbers spike.

Italy’s restaurants, bars, and hairdressers are being allowed to re-open on Monday, two weeks earlier than initially planned.

Shops will also open and Italians will finally be able to see friends, as long as they live within their same region.

The current curbs will stay in place until after Italy’s Republic Day holiday on June 2 to prevent mass travel over the holiday weekend.

Questions remain over quarantine

It was not immediately clear from the government’s decree whether the measures were limited to European Union residents, but Italian media reported earlier on Friday that the decree would apply to people within the EU and Europe’s visa-free Schengen area.

Government sources told the daily La Repubblica and news agency Adnkronos that it will not be mandatory for travelers to self-quarantine upon entering Italy after June 3.

The government’s statement, however, did not mention what health and safety measures would be expected of travelers.

Conte’s announcement came hours after Italy registered its daily virus-linked death fell to 242 on Friday from 262 a day earlier and the number of confirmed new cases was the lowest in four days.

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