Czech morning news in brief: top stories for Jan. 4, 2021

Prague, Jan 4 (CTK) - The COVID risk index of the PES anti-epidemic system has dropped from 90 to 85 points thanks to the reproduction number decrease in the Czech Republic but still remains at the highest, fifth alert level.

In the previous three days, the index was 90 points, the highest figure so far. The country has been on the fifth level for the sixth day in a row.

The lower PES score is caused by the decrease in the reproduction (R) number, expressing the average number of the people who are infected from one positively tested person, from 1.4 to 1.31.

Some school pupils will return this morning after the Christmas holidays, but man will be taking part in remote learning due to the current coronavirus measures.

Pupils in the first and second grades of primary schools will return alongside kindergartens and schools for disabled children. Pupils and students of primary, secondary, and higher vocational schools last went to school on Dec. 18 with the Ministry of Education extending the Christmas holidays, which were originally supposed to start the day before Christmas. Read more here.

A group calling for the re-opening restaurants created a chain of beer glasses and other glasses with lit candles inside from the Government Office to Old Town Square in Prague yesterday in protest against the government anti-coronavirus measures.

The organizers of the peaceful protest say the "Path of Hope" should warn of the critical situation of small- and medium-sized businesses and sole traders.

The demonstrators ask the government to lift the anti-epidemic lockdown measures and start paying deposits to the operators of the closed establishments. They also complain about the government's bad communication. Read the full story here.

Czech police have shelved the case of a Russian diplomat who was attempting to illegally buy special cartridges for sniper rifles in the Czech Republic, iROZHLAS.cz reports and Prague Municipal State Attorney's Office spokesman Ales Cimbala has confirmed.

The public Czech Radio Radiozurnal station reported about the case last summer. The Czech authorities had no other possibility but to shelve the case as the diplomat enjoyed international immunity, so there was no one to be prosecuted. Read more here.

It is being reported that we may see snow showers in the lowlands areas of the Czech Republic this week. Showers will be occasional, with daily temperatures above zero in the first half of the week, cooling slightly at the end of the working week, according to iDnes.

"At the end of the working week, the clouds may break, and then the night temperatures could reach -10 degrees," said meteorologist Martin Tomáš.