Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates) is under police protection. The exact reason for this measure was not given by the municipality.

The Mayor’s spokesperson Martina Vacková informed the Czech media this afternoon. In the second half of March, police detained a man who threatened Hřib because of anti-coronavirus measures.

“The reasons and specific protection methods cannot be commented, following the decision of the police. For security reasons, the Mayor is currently unable to use public transport,” said Vacková.

Hřib recently filed a criminal complaint against an unknown offender. “Someone was following and watching outside his house,” added Vacková. It is not clear whether the current police protection and the case are related.

Hřib is married and has three children.

On March 19, Prague police detained a man who had threatened the Mayor over the phone due to the measures in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The man was charged with extortion.

Zdeněk Hřib is a member of the Czech Pirate party and was inaugurated as mayor of Prague in November 2018.

Born in a family of architects on 21 May 1981, he decides to go for a medical career, and after completing his studies at the Medical Faculty in Prague, devotes himself to scientific research on the quality and efficiency of public services.

He is the author of a number of articles in both domestic and foreign media.

He is a member of several working groups on IT and quality of service at ministerial level, the World Health Organization, and the European Union. He is also a Director of the Society of Applied Research, Education, and Management in Health and occasionally lectures students inside and outside the faculty.

Airbnb is working with hosts from across the Czech Republic to provide first responders, doctors and emergency responders in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, with secure accommodation while they carry out their vital work.

Through this global initiative, hosts have already offered up nearly 200,000 places to stay in over 160 countries and regions. Frontline staff can book eligible and available stays in their area.

Airbnb will waive all fees on the first 100,000 stays booked through this program.

“In tough times like these, it is our priority to stand with the Airbnb community to do what we can to help so that frontline medical staff can carry out their vital work in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic as well and as safely as possible. Hosts on Airbnb are ensuring that frontline workers can find free, affordable and convenient places to stay. We would like to thank all frontline workers throughout the Czech Republic and the many hosts who are already offering them a place to stay,” said Kathrin Anselm, General Manager DACH, CEE & RUS at Airbnb.

In the UK, Airbnb is working closely with hosts to provide National Health Service (NHS) staff and other frontline workers combating the COVID-19 pandemic with accommodation close to newly built emergency hospitals.

In Italy, Airbnb is helping hosts to provide free accommodation for emergency responders who need to move to one of the crisis centres in northern Italy. This way, hosts are helping to protect frontline workers and their families by accommodating them on-site to reduce the risk of infection of others.

In France, hosts have already accommodated 1,000 medical professionals for free in the last two weeks. In partnership with the French government, hosts all over France have offered over 8,000 free places to stay throughout France since the launch of the program three weeks ago.

Frontline staff can request an accommodation under the program directly through the Airbnb Frontline stays platform where they can book eligible and available stays.

Frontline staff can select accommodation based on their needs, e.g. in terms of location.  Once a responder has booked, Airbnb will review the professional information to confirm the booking.

To participate, hosts can offer entire homes free of charge or at a reasonable price.

The respective listings will be available exclusively for use by medical staff within the framework of the program.

 

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You’re a Frontline worker looking for accommodation? Read more here 

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