czechia Archives – Page 6 of 25

“The Czech state is ready to pay at least a third of the rent to companies and entrepreneurs who had to close their businesses from March 12 (when the state of emergency was declared), to the end of June. One-third of the rent should be paid by the tenant, one third by the landlord and one third by the state,” said Prime Minister Andrej Babiš to the iDNES.cz server.

The government should discuss the details of this new proposal next week, but no later than May 11.

“We are doing our best to help companies. We will extend the kurzarbeit program and come up with a proposal to postpone social security payments,” added Babiš.

If the state participates in paying the rent for a third, it would cost about 3 billion CZK. “We can help shopping centers, thousands of pubs, small shops, and hairdressers, whose landlords agree to forgive a third of the rent,” said Babiš.

Previously, the Czech government agreed to allow companies to defer payments for social security and health insurance for the months of May, June, and July.

It’s a move designed to allow companies to concentrate their available cash on covering their wage bill that many managers said would be more useful than the complicated process of applying for low-interest loans from the state.

From May 11, ninth-graders students will return to school, cinemas, and theaters, can reopen. Minister of Health added that there will be strict rules for visitors, such as a safe distance between them.

Sports and cultural events (up to 100 people) will be able to take place again. The rule will also applies to weddings and church services.

Since March, the coronavirus has been confirmed in 7,740 cases. To date, 3,378 people have recovered from Covid-19, while 241 patients have died.

Czechs’s confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 103 to 7682, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed today, marking a third consecutive day of new infections accelerating.

The daily increase in COVID-19 confirmed cases steadily slowed from April 20 to 27, falling to 41 cases per day.

It was the lowest daily increase since March 13. From Tuesday, however, the daily increase began to accelerate again. The ministry has not yet published data on the number of tests performed on Thursday.

Compared to the numbers from Thursday evening, the number of people recovered increased by 33 to 3314 and the number of deaths increased by one to 236.

Czechs have been advised to stay at home as much as possible and continue to apply physical distancing.

In Germany the situation is similar.

Since Angela Merkel announced a relaxation of lockdown measures the reproduction rate of the virus – known as R – has risen towards one again. That means it is at risk of resuming rapid growth.

Social distancing measures in Germany will be extended until May 10, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff said ahead of a government meeting later on Thursday to review lockdown restrictions.

On April 30, the Czech Government has abolished the tax on immovable property acquisitions and at the same time cancel tax deductions for new mortgages.

From May 11, announced to have abolished the tax on immovable property acquisitions and at the same time cancel tax deductions for new mortgages.

Moreover, cinemas, and theaters, can reopen. Sports and cultural events (up to 100 people) will be able to take place again. The rule will also applies to weddings and church services.

Many European governments have banned large events until the end of August, putting an end to the continent’s festival summer.

The Czech government is following the same direction, as confirmed today by the Minister of Culture Lubomír Zaorálek (ČSSD). “Summer festivals, which are usually attended by thousands of participants, will not take place.”

On Tuesday, the popular Karlovy Vary International Film Festival canceled this year’s edition due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 55th edition was due to be held July 3 – 11. The festival said the cancellation was necessary “in view of the Czech government’s ongoing coronavirus measures and the complicated worldwide situation.”

Meanwhile, the government decided to allow the operation of theaters, cinemas, concert halls, circuses and similar establishments for up to 100 people.

According to the Minister of Health Adam Vojtěch (ANO), this limit applies to weddings, as well.

Around Europe

Live Nation announced the cancellation of Germany’s Rock im Park and Rock am Ring anniversaries.

Goodlive’s German festivals Melt and Splash are also affected, while no announcements have been made yet regarding the premiere of Superbloom, which is still scheduled for Sept. 5-6.

In Belgium, Rock Werchter has announced the cancellation of its 2020 edition, which was bound to send shock waves through Europe.

Other major events on the continent have cancelled, including Slovakia’s Pohoda festival and Portugal’s biennial Boom Festival.

Spain’s Primavera Sound has postponed the event from June 3-7 to Aug. 26-30, however, it remains to be seen whether the Spanish authorities decide to introduce extended bans on public life.

It hasn’t yet made any announcements regarding its Eastern European events, including Balaton Sound, Volt and Exit.

From Thursday, April 30, passengers in the Prague metro can use the high-speed LTE mobile network between Muzeum and Můstek stations on line A, reports Mobilenet.cz.

About 20 stations are already covered with LTE services.

At the beginning of April, a consortium of operators launched covered the section between Křižíkova and Invalidovna on line B.

Construction works and cable installation in Prague Metro were performed in phases and during night hours when the metro is closed to the public (1:00 to 3:00 a.m.). The total distance between the four new stations where the cable will be installed in both directions is 11.6 km.

By the end of summer, the consortium wants to complete the coverage of metro sections in the city center. The LTE network should be extended to Staroměstská – Dejvická, Florenc – Českomoravská and Smíchovské nádraží – Anděl.

The costs of covering the Prague metro stations and the tunnels amount to CZK 12 million and CZK 18 million, respectively.

Where LTE network is currently working?
Line A: Bořislavka – Motol Hospital (4 stations: Bořislavka, Nádraží Veleslavín, Petřiny, Motol Hospital), Můstek – Muzeum (2 stations)
Line B: Křižíkova – Invalidovna (2 stations)
Line C: Nádraží Holešovice – Roztyly (12 stations: Nádraží Holešovice, Vltavská, Florenc C, Hlavní nádraží, Muzeum C, I. P. Pavlova, Vyšehrad, Pražského povstání, Pankrác, Budějovická, Kačerov, Roztyly)

The Prague metro began operation in 1974 and now has three lines with 61 stations. It currently has a transit network 65.2 kilometers long. This does not include the long-planned Metro D line.

Expanding WiFi coverage is part of a long-term city project not only for the metro. The Prague Public Transit Company (DPP) has introduced Wi-Fi in new Škoda 15T ForCity trams and some other trams as it modernizes the fleet. By 2022 DPP hopes to have 60 to 70 percent of the fleet covered with WiFi.

The lower house of the Czech parliament voted on Tuesday to extend a state of emergency until May 17, a week less than the government had sought, as the country charts a course to emerge from a coronavirus lockdown earlier than forecast.

The extension is a week shorter than the government sought. The prime minister, Andrej Babiš, had asked for an extension until 25 May to be able to keep restrictions on business in place.

The state of emergency was due to expire on 30 April.

The government of Andrej Babiš and the Social Democrats have been trying to secure sufficient support for the extension, but the opposition parties remained firmly against it.

It has announced that it now expects to reopen the economy faster than previously forecast, although not in time for the deadline now set by parliament.

Babis said after the vote that the government would seek legal amendments to keep some restrictions in place after the state of emergency ends, news agency CTK reported.

The state of emergency allows the government to adopt measures to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, such as limitations on free movement inside the country and across borders, shop and restaurant closures, and streamlined procurement of medical supplies.

Prague was one of the few governments to declare a state of emergency before the country had recorded its first coronavirus death.

By 11 March it had closed all schools, limited public gatherings, banned all public events, sealed its borders, and shuttered all non-essential stores. It also made face masks obligatory in public.

PM Babis’ cabinet declared a state of emergency — the median of three possible states of crisis — on 12 March.

Almost 7,500 people have been tested positive for the coronavirus in the Czech Republic, according to government figures released on Tuesday, 225 have died.

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, annual event that has been taking place in the Czech Republic since 1946, has decided to cancel its 55th annual festival in light of the coronavirus, KVIFF organizers announced on Tuesday morning in Prague.

The festival would have taken place on July 3-11.

Instead, it will offer a selection of movies from its lineup in theaters across the Czech Republic, as the country prepares to open up cinemas (up to 50 viewers) again. It will stage its industry program online.

“We strongly believe that seeing a movie with other people in a theater is a powerful and irreplaceable experience,” said Jiří Bartoška, president of the festival. “And because of the Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival is one of the most important cultural events in the Czech Republic, we have decided that holding an alternative version would go against the festival’s main mission: to bring together audiences, filmmakers, and people from different walks of life in order to collectively enjoy works of cinema.”

The tour will be a special version of the “KVIFF at Your Cinema” program, which takes festival films around the country each year.

At the same time, KVIFF organizers will also offer a virtual version of the “KVIFF Eastern Promises” presentation, in which films in various stages of development and production can be presented to international buyers and festivals.

Those projects will be from Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and North Africa.

The festival has also joined the YouTube project We Are One: A Global Film Festival.

The 55th annual Karlovy Vary International Film Festival will now take place on July 2-10, 2021.

The Czech Athletics Federation announced that it will be ‘back on the track’ with a six-meeting series to launch in June.

The Czech government’s plan to ease restrictions imposed to control the new coronavirus pandemic will open 100 stadiums across the country to athletes from 1 June.That, coupled with the decision to allow public gatherings of up to 50 people from 25 May, has allowed the national governing body to organize a series of six “micro-meetings”.

The first, set for Sletiste stadium in Kladno on 1 June, will officially kick off the season and will be broadcast live by the Czech national broadcaster CT.

Programs and details are still being confirmed, but the Kladno meeting’s timetable will include a women’s javelin, men’s shot put and men’s 300m. Czech stars Barbora Spotakova, Tomas Stanek and Pavel Maslak have already confirmed their participation – and they can’t wait.

“Athletes want to compete as soon as possible and our federation has found a way to arrange events with a limited number of fifty people,” said Libor Varhanik, Czech Athletic Federation president. “We want to engage athletes of all age categories and performance levels.”

To that end, more than 100 additional competitions will be organized for children and youth athletes across the country on 1 June. The aim of the initiative, Varhanik said, is for all athletes to be together, at least symbolically, at the start of this year’s competitive season.

“That’s why we jumped in together on the first of June at 100 and more athletic stadiums under the slogan, ‘Back on the Track’.” Varhanik said the federation put out the call to its regional and club organizations over the weekend to gauge interest for the first meeting. “According to the responses, it will be enormous,” he said.

The “Back on the Track” project will be connected across the country via social networks, providing video and photo coverage with the hashtag #BackOnTheTrack.

Federation officials stress that all competitions are being organized to align firmly with government rules expected to be in force on 1 June.

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.

23.00: From Monday, April 27, universities will open for all students.

22.10: The Czech government lifted a ban on its citizens traveling abroad for reasons other than work following an improvement in conditions of the coronavirus outbreak.

21.41: The Czech government will cancel restrictions on free movement as of Friday and allow groups of up to 10 people to meet in public as it scales back measures to fight the spread of the new coronavirus, Health Minister Adam Vojtech said on Thursday

21.12: On Friday, the government will ask the Chamber of Deputies to extend the state of emergency until May 25, Hamáček said to ČTK. The state of emergency, set to expire on April 30, gives the government powers to limit people’s movement or close businesses.

20:50: The government did not announce any changes regarding easing the ban on travel abroad apart from business trips and commuting.

Temperature records were broken in many parts of the Czech Republic on Thursday.

Thirty of the 150 weather stations in the country keeping records for at least 30 years had not seen such a warm April 16.

The highest temperature was recorded in Pilsen, where the thermometer reached 24.6° C. The information was released by Czech meteorologists.

The maximum temperature exceeded 24° C in Dobřichovice (Central Bohemian Region), in Pilsen-Mikul, in Usti nad Labem-Vanova, in Prague Komořany, and Kopisty.

It is expected that temperatures above 20° C will continue in the next two days, while a slight cooling is expected from Sunday.

Last summer was the hottest in 58 years, with average temperatures of 19.5 degrees Celsius, some 2.5 degrees above the norm for June through August.

The month of June, in particular, was hotter than usual, by some 5 degrees Celsius.

In Prague, June 30, 2019, was recorded as the date of the absolutely highest temperature since measurements started in 1775, with 37.9C.

The survey, by the Deep Knowledge Group, a consortium of technology companies and non-profit organizations, considered 200 data points for each country to compile the list, which placed Germany, China, South Korea, Austria, and Hong Kong in the top five.

Next was Singapore, Taiwan, Israel, and Japan, with the Czech Republic in 11th place.

Deep Knowledge Group adapted its existing analytical frameworks, previously applied to complex domains such as as AI for Drug Discovery and NeuroTech, to the global COVID-19 pandemic landscape. A team of experts collected and analyzed data generated for 200 countries around the world.

The ‘Covid-19 Treatment Efficiency Ranking Framework’ assesses countries based on the sophistication and effectiveness of efforts to monitor the spread of the virus, treatment of patients, in addition to the capacity to develop, test, validate and deploy experimental vaccines and treatments.

Unfortunately, some of the riskiest countries are also from Europe. In the “COVID-19 Risk Ranking Framework” Italy ranked first, the US second, while the UK was ranked third.

The data came from sources including the World Health Organisation, Johns Hopkins University, in addition to overall economic and technological development.

There have now been more than 2 million confirmed cases across the world and upwards of 134,000 deaths.

Eurozone Safety / Risk Ranking

The COVID-19 Eurozone Safety / Risk Ranking Framework was designed specifically for the unique circumstances present in Europe. Special attention was applied to the unique characteristics of Europe including highly interconnected economies, high levels of supply-chain, tourist flow, and the incidence of critical hotspots.

Analysts predict a significant rise in the prices of fruits and vegetables in Czech stores.

Reasons are different: the Czech crown currency’s recent weakening, spring frosts and a shortage of workers in agriculture.

At the moment in Tesco supermarkets, bell peppers cost 80 CZK/kg, tomatoes 60 CZK/kg, and lemons 55 CZK/kg. These prices are about 30% more expensive than last year.

Prices are expected to rise also in rice, as there is a significant increase in global demand.

It is characteristic that, according to Reuters data, the price of rice has climbed to the highest levels since April 2013.

Farmers all over the world feel the lack of employees, including major European suppliers – Great Britain, Spain, France and Italy.

The numbers involved are substantial: France is short of about 200,000 workers until the end of May, while Spain has a shortfall of 70,000 to 80,000. Italy needs about 250,000 seasonal workers in the next two months, while the UK normally receives 70,000 to 80,000 over the season and Germany 300,000.

The restrictions around the coronavirus outbreak have made it impossible for thousands of migrant workers to come and harvest crops in Spanish fields.

“Farmers are forced to hire local residents and pay them a higher salary, which affects the cost of production,” said Boris Tomchiak, Finlord analyst.

Every year, thousands of people from countries like Romania, Bulgaria or Poland come to work in the fields. Many others, especially women, come from Morocco.

Join us on Telegram and follow our Insta Stories to read the latest updates on the coronavirus in the Czech Republic.