Despite many people’s original expectations that the pandemic situation would improve during summer, the number of new cases has been growing since most countermeasures were released. This and the fact that many experts are worried about the situation further worsening in autumn has led to some countermeasures being (re)introduced again in the Czech Republic. Some of them, like wearing face masks, were reintroduced nationwide while other countermeasures were reintroduced only in some regions.
Prague Marked Orange, Brno Green
In July, the local “Traffic Light System” mapping the pandemic situation in Czechia was launched. Many members of the government – including the Czech Minister of Health – believed that the pandemic would grow weaker during summer and only later in autumn it would intensify again. As the numbers started increasing rapidly, the Minister of Health admitted that they were wrong.
Recently, changes were made on the local coronavirus map as a response to the pandemic getting worse sooner than expected. Prague, for example, is now marked orange which means that community transmission occurs in Prague, and the risk of getting infected increases. Despite that, there have been no strict countermeasures put in place and so the situation is similar to the situation elsewhere. The only difference is that it is now mandatory to wear a face mask at the Prague airport. The reason why this countermeasure was put in place, is that foreign tourists make up about 25 percent of new daily cases. Principals of some schools also decided to make wearing face masks mandatory in the indoor areas of their schools, though the government doesn’t require it.
At the same time, three other regions and once city are now marked green, namely Brno, Žďár nad Sázavou, Kolín, and Příbram. That means that there are sporadic cases of people getting infected in the area but the community transmission doesn’t occur. No special countermeasures were introduced in these places.
Possible Prognosis for Future Weeks
According to the newest data, the highest possibility of getting infected is in clubs and bars. Because of this, Prague chief hygienist Zdeňka Jágrová stated that if two more mass transmissions of the COVID-19 connected to some club or bar are recorded, the opening hours of clubs will be limited. In that case, they would have to be closed from either 11:00 PM or midnight to 6:00 AM. Even without this, opening hours of clubs and bars could be cut in order to prevent the virus from spreading faster, though.
Other risky places, events, and activities are, for example, mass concerts, using public transport, fairs and festivals, gyms, and restaurants (all you can eat types or restaurants, etc.).
Epidemiologist Roman Prymula also warns that after a new semester starts, whole student dormitories, or at least their parts could have to be quarantined in autumn. Student parties, in particular, could cause the virus to spread rapidly.
Let us know and get your residence permit as soon as possible to be safe in the future in case the pandemic indeed returns in full force. Having a residence permit is the best way of making sure you’ll be able to return to the Czech Republic even if the borders are closed again.
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Sources: seznamzpravy.cz article I and article II, Aktuálně.cz, Novinky.cz article I and article II, MZČR, Echo24
Source of the photo: Pexels.com
