As autumn and the start of a new school year is slowly approaching, fear of the dreaded second wave of COVID-19 is growing. Experts all across the planet worry that with schools reopening again, the disease will spread even faster. Seasonal illnesses, such as the flu, could also make the situation worse. For this reason, the Czech government decided to reintroduce some countermeasures from September.
Face Masks Mandatory Nationwide
One of the countermeasures that are going to be reintroduced in order to prevent the virus from spreading rapidly, is the wearing of face masks. This will be mandatory on public transport or in all indoor areas such as shops, offices, schools outside of classrooms, post offices, or indoor mass events. The countermeasure will not apply to workplaces or restaurants.
Right now the wearing of face masks is mandatory only in high-risk regions in the Czech Republic, however, from September 1st it will apply nationwide. On August 17th, the Ministry of Education sent manuals with instructions on how to deal with the virus to schools. These manuals will be presented to the public at a press conference on August 18th.
UPDATED on August 24th: The government agreed that face masks won’t be mandatory at schools, shops, hairdressing salons, and restaurants.
Restrictions on the number of people at mass events will still apply – the maximum number of participants will be 1 000 people in outdoor areas, 500 in indoor areas. On the other hand, the Czech Minister of Culture would like the maximum number of people attending indoor cultural events (for example in theatres) to rise to 1 000. This would be only possible in bigger indoor areas where separated sections can be created. The current plan is that in theatres and other auditoriums with permanent seats, it will not be necessary to leave every other seat empty from September for sanitary reasons.
Shorter Quarantine
At the same time, the mandatory 14-days quarantine for asymptomatic people and those who were in contact with someone infected will be reduced to 10 days as of August 24th. The infected will be isolated for ten days from the last positive test if they have symptoms of the disease. Those who were infected but don’t show any symptoms anymore can be released from the quarantine immediately.
UPDATED on August 24th: It was announced that the length of the quarantine will be reduced as of September 1st and not from August 24th as originally planned.
More countermeasures and restrictions will probably be (re)introduced gradually in the next few weeks depending on the overall situation. If you don’t want to miss out on any important news, subscribe to our newsletter mapping the current coronavirus situation, and don’t forget to check this blog.
Source of the photo: Unsplash.com
