Indoor standing-room events attended by over ten people are banned from Friday

Prague, Sept 16 (CTK) — The Czech Health Ministry announced on Wednesday evening that indoor events where people stand and with more than ten participants are banned as of Friday, 18:00.

The measure does not apply to exhibitions, markets and similar events.

For events with sitting participants, tickets must be sold for concrete seats.

According to the ministry regulation, bars, restaurants and clubs may not admit more customers than they have seats. Guests must also wear a face mask at the bar if they are not sitting.

People are still not required to wear masks while eating and drinking at dining establishments.

Health Minister Adam Vojtech (for ANO) discussed the development of the COVID-19 epidemic with Chamber of Deputies.

He said that unlike in the spring, most of the infected are in their 20s.

He said young people who got infected at events held in clubs and could spread the disease among at-risk groups. He added that the Czech Republic has followed the Austrian model, in which such club events were a source of the infection.

Vojtech also said it is necessary to stop the present rise in the number of newly confirmed coronavirus cases, which is higher than in the spring. He said the numbers of new cases would keep growing and the introduced measures should stabilise the situation.

The minister admitted that the situation concerning the epidemic was not good in the Czech Republic, but he said the issue was becoming too political.

He said the only prevention of COVID-19 is to wear face masks, wash hands and keep the minimum distance from others. He dismissed the view that the wearing of face masks violated personal freedoms.

Vojtech said the public health offices did not have enough personnel, but that is was the previous governments that cut the number of personnel.

He dismissed the view that the government did not do anything during the summer, but did not react to the criticism that it achieved only about half of the tasks that the Chamber of Deputies assigned to it in June.

Vojtech argued that the new smart quarantine project has been prepared.

He said up to 20,700 tests can be carried out in the country per day and this daily capacity is to be increased to 25,000 tests. There are 123 testing points in the Czech Republic, he added.

Interior Minister Jan Hamacek (Social Democrats, CSSD) is waiting for a new debate on the activating of the Central Crisis Staff, but Prime Minister Andrej Babis (ANO) is against it.

Hamacek told MPs that to convoke the Central Crisis Staff did not mean to declare the state of emergency once again. He said mechanisms that proved successful should be used.

Hamacek also said it is necessary to again convince people that COVID-19 may have serious impact and that the current measures against coronavirus spreading, such as the wearing of face masks in indoor spaces, are not just pointless.

He said the introduced measures should have some effect in about two weeks.

If the rise in new cases kept growing, Czechia might get in a situation similar to the spring developments in Italy or the current development in Israel, Hamacek said. We do not want to halt the economy and close down schools, he said.