Czech face mask regulations will not be relaxed soon, says Interior Minister

Prague, April 11 (CTK) – It would not be a good solution to relax the rules for wearing of face masks, the Interior Minister and head of the Central Crisis Staff, Jan Hamáček (Social Democrats, CSSD), told the server iDNES.cz today.

The readiness to wear the face masks is declining, but people should keep doing so, Hamáček said.

Police are registering more violation of the government measures, the server said.

“We have information that the readiness to wear the face masks is somewhat declining. This may be due to the optimistic scenarios and statements from the past week,” Hamáček said.

On Wednesday, Health Minister Adam Vojtěch (for ANO) said the Czech Republic had managed to stop the uncontrolled spread of the COVID-19 and the country could start preparing for return to normal life.

The government also allowed to practice sports without face masks outdoors, in parks and public areas since April 7, provided people keep the two-metre distance from the rest.

“As it was, the rules suited me. From the beginning, I was for tolerance on the part of the police, but journalists kept asking me how it is. If I said that we shall tolerate the failure to wear masks outside municipalities or in individual sports, I would be criticised,” Hamáček said.

“This (relaxation of the rules) was a reaction to the requests for more accurate rules. Unfortunately, a regulation can never be written for 100 percent,” Hamáček told the server.

He said the crisis staff was not planning any further relaxations. The current state is the maximum of the possible.