prymula czech republic Archives

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.

Lime announced today that it has partially resumed its operations in Prague.

Out of the 1,500 scooters that normally operate in the Czech capital, 200 have so far been re-deployed in the streets, said Ondřej Široký, the company’s operations manager.

Lime will also offer free 30-minute scooter rides for public-health workers and law enforcement officers, who can receive access simply by signing up.

“Micro mobility plays a critical role in moving people seamlessly through cities, and as an individual form of transportation, scooters can help fill an integral transportation gap at this important time,” Lime wrote in a statement.

Lime will provide in-app reminders of its “THRIVE” health and safety best practices, including:

Take precautions – inspect the scooter to make sure the wheels, brakes, throttle, lights, and frame are all in good working condition
Hands – wash your hands or use hand sanitizer which is at least 60 percent alcohol-based when you arrive at your final destination. Wear gloves when you can
Ride Solo for safety and social distancing; maintain a distance of at least six feet from others
Identify bike lanes and be aware of traffic lights and signs
Vigilance – remain alert of your surroundings and potential road and safety hazards
Essential rides only – scooter rides are for essential travel only, such as the grocery store, pharmacy or for healthcare purposes. No joyriding, and please follow your city’s shelter-in-place orders.

Lime will offer free 30-minute rides for health care workers and law enforcement officers in the following cities: Austin, Baltimore, Columbus, Dallas, Nashville, Norfolk, Va., Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City, Washington D.C, Berlin, Cologne, Paris, Rimini, and Tel Aviv.

The Czech Republic reported just 52 more cases of the coronavirus on Sunday, the smallest daily increase since March 14.

The country had 7,404 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection by Monday morning. So far 2,555 people have recovered and 221 people have died, only one more in the last 24 hours.

From Monday, April 27, shops of up the 2,500 m² will be allowed to reopen if they’re not located in large shopping centers, as well as gym and fitness centers, outdoor zoos and gardens, driving schools, libraries and church services of up to 15 people.

Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček (CSSD) during an interview to CT on Sunday evening believes that “from July, Czech tourists could visit Slovakia or Austria, or even earlier in case of favorable developments.”

“Regarding Italy, France, or the United States, it is premature to talk about traveling to these countries,” he added.

5,508 (out of the planned 27,000) people have been tested for the coronavirus antibodies to gain information on how many came into contact with the infection.

Seven percent of Czechs who were active in terms of work before the coronavirus pandemic have lost their jobs, according to the latest survey “Life during a pandemic” conducted by PAQ Research and IDEA AntiCovid initiative.

Job losses have now occurred for 24 percent of the self-employed individuals and 3 percent of employees.

More than a third of employees said that their employment contract or work activities were adjusted for reduced hours (11 percent), reduced wages (8 percent) and benefits (8 percent). Others have been forced to take care of their children (6 percent), experienced forced leave (9 percent), and had a loss of income from an employment contract (4 percent).

The decline in the number of hours worked has stabilized compared to the end of March. About 30 to 35 percent of people working before the epidemic claims they now work up to 20 hours a week, and about 50 to 55 percent have maintained their full-time working hours of 40 hours a week or more.

Roughly a quarter of respondents who were active in terms of work before the epidemic have a relatively strong fear of losing their job.

More than 40 percent of people whose working conditions have changed, as well as about a third of people with lower qualifications and those who were poor before the epidemic, are also fearful of this outcome.

The number of those partially affected by the decline in household income has increased slightly since the end of March.

About 36 percent of households participating in the survey have savings that would be enough for a maximum of one month if they did not have any other income.

Roughly seven percent of people belong to a high-risk category, in which households have lost at least half of income and have savings for only one month. This group greatly consists of the self-employed, single parents and people whose working hours have changed.

The survey shows that 14 percent of households are still considering some radical solutions, such as loans, a sale of a property, and the search for cheaper housing. This applies to about a quarter of respondents from the group identified as vulnerable.

Thanks to the mortgage and rent payments deferment, the situation for households has improved, however, there are still some households that already had problems repaying long-term financial liabilities even before the crisis.

Škoda Auto has announced it will be resuming production at its Czech plants on 27 April while maintaining protective measures to prevent employees from becoming infected by the coronavirus.

The car manufacturer has approved a set of comprehensive measures for all areas of the business.

More than 80 individual precautions, defined together with the social partner KOVO Union, include both specific steps to keep the workforce healthy and organizational provisions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace.

Production at the three Czech sites has been suspended since 18 March 2020.

The list of precautions defined by Skoda includes, for example, that all employees put on a face mask when entering the factory premises. This is also applicable to external staff. Škoda Auto will provide all colleagues with the masks required, which will have to be worn at all times whilst at work.

Each shift has been allocated with additional time to clean tools, telephones, and keyboards as well as any materials and surfaces. Furthermore, all areas will be cleaned and disinfected even more frequently.

Škoda Auto has also made some changes to daily operations in order to protect the workforce. These include adapting the way staff shuttles operate, and altering procedures at factory gates, reception points and in the canteens, as well as how working hours are recorded.

Other provisions have been made for staff in production to work in smaller, fixed teams. Briefings at shift changeover are to be as short as possible, and more break time areas have been made available in order to keep personal contact and the risk of infection to a minimum.

The precautions to be taken after production resumes are set in three stages. Until further notice, stage 1 will see all of the measures apply in full.

In stage 2, certain provisions will then be lifted. Stage 3 will allow for further, gradual easing of the measures over a prolonged period of time, ensuring this is done responsibly and in a manner that keeps people safe.

At an appropriate time, the end of this third phase will enable normal daily operations to resume, meaning any currently applicable restrictions on entering the factory premises, e.g. for visitors, will be lifted.

General liability insurance is a type of insurance policy that can help businesses should they run into problems. Such problems can come with a high cost, but general liability insurance can help cover such costs. Read more about the importance of insurance especially, specifically for car rental companies.

From March 19th in the entire Czech Republic has been mandatory to wear face/surgical masks (or at least scarves or bandannas) fully covering the nose and mouth when going out in public.

During today’s press conference, Deputy Health Minister Roman Prymula announced that coronavirus countermeasures, such as wearing face masks, the use of disinfectants, and social distancing will be in place at least until the end of June.

According to the government’s regulations, police officers can impose an on-the-spot fine of CZK 10,000 to anyone found not wearing the correct equipment in public.

The Czech Republic had 7,236 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection by the end of Friday. So far 2,371 people have recovered and 214 people have died.

On Thursday, April 23, the Czech cabinet lifted a ban on its citizens traveling abroad for reasons other than work following an improvement in conditions of the coronavirus outbreak.

Czech citizens and foreigners with permission to enter the country have two options for arrival in the Czech Republic from the midnight on Friday 24 April, 2020: present a negative coronavirus test upon return or be subject to two-week quarantine.

Later today, PM Babiš stated that “we had theoretically opened the borders, but in practice, people cannot get anywhere. Flights are mostly canceled and other governments won’t allow people from other countries to enter unless they have a valid coronavirus test. The lifted ban on travel abroad mainly applies to business trips.”

Festka realized an impactful video appeal for cyclists to respect the Coronavirus restrictions

The recent warm and sunny weather lures cyclists out and the breaking curves representing the numbers of infected in the Czech Republic and several other countries breed optimism. The temptation to take off face-masks and organize a group ride gets stronger every day.

Festka, the Prague based manufacturer of top-end bicycle frames, decided to contribute to the debate about the easing of restrictions and the personal responsibility of the individual.

The company asked a team of its long term collaborators in the area of film and photography to make a short video in which it wants to appeal to cyclists to keep on respecting the restrictions, ride alone and not gather in popular spots.

“Noticing the growing number of groups of cyclists, runners, and walkers, I was disappointed to see people flaunt the rules on social distancing. I approached our filmmaking friends and we made a video which appeals to cyclists to respect the restrictions in order for us all to be able to ride together again soon,” says Michael Moureček, the Festka co-founder and a former pro cyclist, adding:

“As lovers of cycling we completely understand the temptation but we also realize how much is at stake and so we thought we should ask our community to hold out and behave responsibly.”

The principal creators of the video – the director Jan Krofta, DOP Jiří Švorc and Michael Moureček in the role of the lonesome rider – used to the full the unique opportunity provided by the current situation. Locations normally teeming with hundreds, even thousands of tourists and Prague dwellers are shown completely deserted except for the solitary cyclist.

The visual impact of these images is strong and it carries a huge significance. The current restrictions were observed during the shoot which took place in the early mornings of the first April weekend.

The other main contributors were the editor Petr Mrkous, the sound-engineer Mishan Pajdiak. The picture post-production was done by PFX and the video was produced by Unit/Sofa.

About Festka

Festka has been making top-quality custom bicycles in Prague since 2010. It counts many interesting people among its clients – Hollywood celebrities, people from big business, as well as those who discovered cycling later in life as their preferred form or exercise and want (and can afford) to ride an exceptional bike.

Festka is renowned for its cooperation with top-notch institutions such as the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Czech Technical University.

The firm was founded by the former pro cyclist Michael Moureček and his entrepreneurial friend Ondřej Novotný. From the very beginning, the creative side of things has been the work of Tomáš Hnida.

Up to 90% of the company’s production is exported, with 80% of the exports heading outside the EU to Asia (China, Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines), USA and Australia.

The smart quarantine project will be extended to the whole country from Monday.

The project involves tracing past contacts of people who test positive for the virus five days back by creating “maps of their movements” with the help of banks and mobile phone operators.

The solution offered by the Covid19cz group of computer experts. “It generates a memory map showing… for instance that a man spent half an hour at the corner of two streets,” sais Covid19cz spokeswoman Irena Zatloukalova.

“The public health officer can ask if the person visited or met someone to identify other people who may be infected. People won´t have to merely rely on their memory when they recall what they were doing over the last two weeks.”

All those who they came into contact with are tested and quarantined until cleared. The plan is being implemented with the help of the army in order to speed up testing.

The smart quarantine will contribute to the acceleration of activities ensuring population testing and identify new coronavirus cases.

Those who test positive will then describe who they met and where to the Regional Hygiene Authority, and a map will be drawn from this information.

Within three days, everyone who was in contact with the infected person will be contacted. “They will be ordered into a short-term quarantine and the army will arrive within a few hours,” explained Prymula.

“During the first stage of the fight against Coronavirus, across-the-board measures were adopted to stop the virus from spreading unchecked. Fortunately, we did this quickly. It looks as though we have high a chance of levelling out the growth and the curve. We have now moved on to the second stage, which entails replacing the across-the-board measures with the smart-quarantine concept that has been used with success in Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and other countries,” said Prime Minister Andrej Babiš noted.

On the orders of the government, all data must be permanently deleted after the research has been completed, according to Ondřej Tomáš, one of the system developers. Only epidemiologists will be allowed to access the data.

According to Deputy Minister of Health Roman Prymula, the restrictions on travel abroad will probably be eased in the next weeks.

“Slovakia and Croatia are considered as possibilities, but we need an agreement with the respective countries which would have to open their borders to Czech holidaymakers”.

“The Czech government is under pressure to open at least a few holiday “channels” out of the country,” he added.

In mid-June, the situation will be more clear. Prime Minister Andrej Babis (ANO) added that the government will continue to explore the possibility of free travel.

Croatia was the most popular foreign destination for Czechs in 2018. According to data from the Czech Statistical Office, 813,000 Czech tourists spent their holidays there.

More than five million Czechs went on holiday abroad last year.

On March 14, the government put a ban on entering the territory of the Czech Republic for all arriving foreigners except for foreigners with permanent or temporary (over 90 day-long) residency in the Czech Republic. All people entering the territory of the Czech Republic are subject to a fourteen-day mandatory quarantine unless stated otherwise, subject to exceptions.

With effect from April 14th, foreigners residing in the Czech Republic, like Czech citizens, are able to travel abroad, with the possibility of returning during the state of emergency.

The purpose of travel must be in accordance with the exceptions to the prohibition of free movement imposed by the Ministry of Health.

It is therefore limited to necessary and justified cases only (e.g. fulfillment of official duties, work abroad, etc.), which will have to be proven individually to the police at border crossings. Diplomatic notice from an embassy is therefore no longer required.

Czech officials said on Wednesday they plan to test 5,000 people without coronavirus symptoms to get an idea of the real incidence of the disease within the EU member’s population.

“We are considering a representative sample of about 5,000 people, probably in Prague, to get an idea of how many symptomless people have actually had the disease,” Deputy Health Minister Roman Prymula told state television.

The test will be based on antibody response so as to also detect the virus in healthy individuals. Speaking separately to state radio, Prymula said he also wanted to test the citizens of an eastern region that was under complete lockdown for two weeks, adding that this testing could already begin this week.

“We have already supplied 22,000 testing kits. We want to know how many people actually got infected,” Prymula said. There are 3,508 confirmed cases of the virus, including 61 cured patients and 39 deaths.

Prymula said he expects 8,000-13,000 confirmed cases around mid-April as testing speeds up.

On Tuesday, the number of coronavirus cases increased by 307, a 10 percent increase that also coincided with the highest number of tests carried out in one day, with over 6,200 tests administered.

Minister of Health Adam Vojtěch considers the increase in the number of tests very positive.

“The Czech Republic is above average in terms of the number of tests,” he said, adding that testing is currently one of the government’s priorities.

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