Coronavirus update, May 17, 2021: Here's what is changing in the Czech Republic today

Restaurant gardens can open as of today. Patrons will need to be tested, fully vaccinated, or have already had Covid-19 to be able to visit outdoor seating areas. The responsibility for following those rules falls on the patron, and there may be spot inspections by police to see if patrons have the required certificates (fines of up to 10,000 CZK can be issued for non-compliance). A maximum of four people may sit at a table unless they are members of the same household, and tables must be 1.5 meters apart. WiFi will be allowed in the gardens. No date has been set for reopening restaurant interiors, but that step would be part of the fifth package of relaxation measures expected to take effect when the number of newly infected people reaches fewer than 50 cases per 100,000 over seven days.

From today, cultural events can take place in the Czech Republic in the open air with maximum participation of up to 700 people. The government should also decide today if it will be possible to increase the capacity of outdoor events by 1,000 people and at the same time allow indoor events, including cinema, from May 24. The condition for participation in the events will be either a negative test, a completed vaccination, or recovery from Covid-19. Theater groups have asked the government to set the same rules as restaurants now follow, with the responsibility for having a Covid test, vaccination, or recovery falling on the patron. The National Theater will start performances in June, offering premieres, a selection from the repertoire, and concerts. Half of the auditorium capacity will be available in each of the theater buildings, with a maximum of 500 tickets.

The first five grades of elementary schools are switching to a regular school attendance regime across the Czech Republic as of today, as are sixth to ninth graders in Prague and the Hradec Králové, Karlovy Vary, Plzeň, Central Bohemia, Liberec, and Pardubice regions. They will no longer have one week at home and one week at school. The rotation attendance system will end for sixth to ninth-graders in the remaining seven regions as of May 24 if the pandemic improves. The frequency of testing pupils with PCR tests has been reduced from each week to once every 14 days, and when using state antigen tests, schoolchildren will be tested once a week. An exception is the second stage of primary schools in seven regions with a worse epidemic situation, where there will be antigen testing as before twice a week. Masks or respirators must still be worn inside, except for children in kindergartens or the mentally handicapped.

MeSES, the Health Ministry expert team for epidemiological situations, is for the Czech cabinet to leave the corporate Covid testing to continue beyond June 30, its currently planned termination date, epidemiologist Petr Smejkal and virologist Ruth Tachezy said. As of the September beginning of the new school year, children should start being tested in schools again, said Smejkal and Tachezy. They told Czech Television that the viral load in the population is still too high to put an end to the preventive testing during the summer. MeSES is going to recommend that the corporate testing continue, applying to all those returning to work from holidays, no matter whether they spent the holidays at home or abroad.

Tests on Sunday confirmed 257 new Covid cases, which is the smallest Sunday increase since the end of the summer holidays. There were 598 cases on Saturday. The reproduction number rose by five hundredths to 0.81 today compared to Sunday, according to Health Ministry data. The reproduction number had been over one continuously until March 8 and then for two days in mid-April. It has been under one ever since, meaning the pandemic is receding. There were 1,310 patients with Covid in Czech hospitals on Sunday, the lowest number of hospitalizations in almost seven and a half months.