Czech state of emergency ends, new regulations take effect

As of the morning of December 26, the Czech Republic's state of emergency has come to an end. While restrictions put into place under the state of emergency are no longer in effect, a few new ones have been enacted by the Czech government to take their place.

The curfew on restaurants, bars, clubs, and other establishments, which had to close by 10:00 p.m. over the past month, is no longer in effect. A ban on consuming alcohol in public has also ended. Christmas markets are also now allowed to officially operate, but it's unlikely any that had previously closed will now open after the holidays.

A mandate requiring Covid vaccination to attend events or go to restaurants and other venues remains in effect, with staff now required to check for valid certificates using an app to read QR codes.

Newly, the number of people allowed to sit at a single table in restaurants has been reduced from six to four, unless they are members of the same household.

From December 29 to January 2, covering New Year's Eve celebrations, a maximum of 50 people will be allowed to attend both public and private events, unless they are seated during the event.

Most Covid-19 testing points in Prague are currently closed due to the Christmas holidays, and will reopen from Monday, December 27. A list of testing points that are still open through the holidays can be found at covid.praha.eu. At locations that only test based on appointment, many are already booked through the holidays.

Exceptions include the Vinohrady Teaching Hospital, which will open its testing point for four hours on Sunday, December 26, and Motol hospital, which will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. The Covid sampling point on Na Bojišti street near the city center is also open to walk-in patients, but saw long lines of people waiting to test on Friday.

The Czech Health Ministry has announced that they will require a negative test for Covid-19 for non-residents travelling to the Czech Republic from all countries, not only those red and dark red on the country's travel map, as of January 3. Previously, the ministry stated that all travelers would need to supply a test; later, they updated this to non-residents only. Those who have been vaccinated against Covid-19, and had an additional booster shot, are exempt from the requirement to provide a test.

"The conditions of entry into the Czech Republic are being tightened for foreigners only," the ministry says in a new press release. "The given protective measure will be adjusted in this respect immediately today. A misunderstanding occurred during its drafting and release. We apologize to all whom the mistake might have affected for the arising complications."

The new government has introduced a set of measures against the spread of Covid-19 to take effect from Wednesday, Dec. 29. A maximum of 50 people will be able to attend events, parties, and New Year's Eve celebrations, and the organizers/owners must screen Covid certificates via the Tečka app.

From Dec. 29 to Jan. 2, a maximum of four people will be able to occupy restaurant tables with the exception of those from the same household. A maximum of 1,000 seated people will be able to attend cultural and other events. Events during which attendees do not sit at tables will be limited to 100 people.

Restaurants and pubs will be allowed to be open past 22:00 from Dec. 26. However, until Jan. 3, only people with vaccinations or who have had Covid will be allowed into these establishments, which means PCR tests will not be accepted for entry into restaurants until Jan. 3. The government cites the rapidly spreading Omicron mutation as the reason behind this decision.

Stores with an area over 200 square meters can be open on Dec. 24 until noon and have to remain closed on Dec. 25, despite there being a state of emergency that makes the law on holiday closing not binding. The state of emergency ends Dec. 25, and the law will resume effect and keep the big retail stores closed on Dec. 26, as has been normal since 2016.

Stores should continue observing the restricted capacity of one customer per 10 square meters. The customers should keep a 1.5-meter distance from each other, wear a respirator and disinfect their hands on entry.

From Monday, Dec. 27, people over the age of 30 are eligible for a booster dose of vaccine after five months. In the first two weeks of the new year, pupils, students, and school staff will be tested twice a week whether or not they have been vaccinated or have had Covid in the last six months. Testing will take place every Monday and Thursday.

The new government led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala today will discuss new anti-Covid restrictions once the state of emergency ends on Dec. 25. Health Minister Vlastimil Válek will propose that in the first two weeks of January, coronavirus testing in schools should be carried out on Mondays and Thursdays. He said that the government is coming up with five variants of anti-epidemic measures for the period up to the end of the year and two to three variants of measures for the period from the beginning of next year.

So far, he has only announced that he will propose a restriction of opening hours on Dec. 24 until noon and the closing of stores on Dec. 25. He also stated that he wants to use CZK 100 million to buy equipment for PCR tests, which should be used not only in hospitals but also in all workplaces that want to participate in testing.

The number of Covid reinfections with symptoms of the disease has been rapidly increasing recently. The National Institute of Public Health (SZÚ) has recorded 8,156 cases since the start of the epidemic and 3,465 of them (42 percent) occurred this November, the SZÚ said. Some 4,832 were women and 3,324 men. The medium age is 37 years. The interval between the first and second episodes of the illness was between 61 and 624 days. Besides, the SZÚ has recorded 8,358 cases of reinfection when people had at least one past illness without symptoms.

The Coalition of Romani Representatives in the Liberec Region has launched an information campaign aimed at the Romani community and meant to support a willingness to get vaccinated against Covid-19. The campaign aims to motivate both Romani men and women to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. Regional healthcare authorities in additional regions with large Roma populations such as Ústí nad Labem are also addressing disinformation spread on social media with public service campaigns, according to server Romea.cz.

The Elisabeth Pharmacon laboratory in Brno has found 16 positive samples for the Omicron variant since Sunday, which is 5.4 percent of all positive samples. So far, the University Hospital Brno has found 17 positive cases of omicron variants in the region. Both the hospital and the laboratory can also sequence samples to confirm the variant. Health Minister Vlastimil Válek expects that omicron will be dominant in the Czech population around mid-January. Experts say Omicron is three to four times more contagious than the Delta variant, now still dominant.

The Czech Health Ministry has issued a directive defining the compensation for people who suffer from permanent consequences of compulsory vaccination, which extends the previous directive by adding Covid-19 jab consequences such as anaphylactic shock, carditis, and blood clots. The former cabinet introduced compulsory vaccination for all people over 60 and for selected professions as of next March. New Health Minister Vlastimil Válek said he would cancel the duty for the age category of 60+. Cases of the vaccination's suspected undesirable effects have been monitored by the State Drugs Control Institute (SÚKL), which registered some 9,300 of them out of the total of 13.5 million applied jabs.

The Ministry of Education has set aside approximately CZK 400 million to further support tutoring from January to the end of the 2021/2022 school year. It can be used by primary and secondary schools and conservatories set up by municipalities and regions. Compared to autumn, it will be possible to tutor pupils of all grades of secondary schools and conservatories, not only final ones. At the same time, the money can only be used for individual and group tutoring, not for socializing activities.

The Czech Health Ministry has so far ordered 370,000 doses of the newly approved Covid vaccine from the Novavax company. Part of the vaccine is being made in the Czech Republic. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) yesterday recommended approval of this vaccine. Based on the information released by the State Drug Control Institute (SÚKL), this is a protein-based vaccine, which means a different type than the four already approved ones. The Novavax vaccine should arrive in the Czech Republic in January, according to previous information. Two doses are needed. The key part of this vaccine, a recombinant S protein replicating the one on the surface of the SARS-COV2, is manufactured near Prague. Another component is being made in Sweden and the vaccine is completed in Germany.

Health Minister Vlastimil Válek will bring a specific set of anti-epidemic measures to the government meeting on Wednesday, which will apply until the end of this year, Interior Minister Vít Rakušan said after the meeting of the Central Crisis Staff. The end of the state of emergency does not mean that all measures in the Czech Republic would cease to apply. The state of emergency will end on Dec. 25, and the new government does not plan to extend it.

The National Institute of Public Health (SZÚ) expects the coronavirus variant Omicron to be spreading in the Czech Republic because community cases have already appeared, without any link to travels to Africa, it said in a press release. Tests have shown that Omicron occurred in the South Moravia, Liberec, and Hradec Kralove regions. Suspected cases appeared in the Zlín region and Moravia-Silesia, the SZÚ said. By Dec. 17, six Omicron cases have been confirmed in the country. But the University Hospital Brno announced yesterday that there were further 17 suspected Omicron cases and new cases appeared in other regions, too. "Given the community findings of the Omicron variant, it can be expected that it is spreading … so it is necessary to maintain all measures to lower the community transfer," National Reference Laboratory head Helena Jiřincová said.

Some people in Prague have been trying to get a booster dose before they are entitled to it according to age. Over the weekend, information spread on social networks that people under the age of 45 can get vaccinated in five months, for example, in the Kotva shopping center. According to a spokesman for the General University Hospital (FVN) in Prague, which operates the vaccination center, there were "a few cases" of people getting a booster ahead of schedule, but now it has stopped. Currently people 45 and over and the chronically ill can get a booster after five months, while others have to wait six months. People who got the single-dose Janssen vaccine can get a booster after two months.  

The government Health Risks Council will cease to exist as it deforms the crisis management system, new Czech Interior Minister Vít Rakušan told journalists, adding there was agreement with Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Health Minister Vlastimil Válek. The council was founded last July. It is headed by the prime minister and its members include three cabinet ministers and health experts. "This is something outside the system and it was a rival center of decision-making and power within the crisis management," Rakušan said. The Central Crisis Staff (ÚKS) must be the institution that decides, he added.

The new government plans to strengthen PCR testing, Health Minister Vlastimil Válek said on CNN Prima News. He also considers it essential to maintain full-time teaching in schools. He will submit a proposal to the government on Dec. 29. It will focus on three areas: increasing PCR tests, providing care for the sick in all regions, and maintaining full-time teaching in schools. Regarding the strengthening of PCR tests, Válek intends to negotiate with representatives of the laboratories and instructed Chief Hygienist Pavla Svrčinová to focus on the issue. He expects 600,000 PCR tests a day by the middle of next year, up from the current 140,000.

Health Minister Vlastimil Válek will submit an amendment to the vaccination decree to the government by mid-February, so the decree will no longer include compulsory Covid vaccination for people over 60 years of age. According to him, the exact wording will also depend on the data on the Omicron variant. The decree on compulsory vaccination against people over the age of 60 and selected professions is to apply from March. Válek has previously said that he opposes widespread vaccination of age groups.  

President Miloš Zeman repeated that he was an advocate of mandatory Covid vaccination on CNN Prima News. He criticized Police Chief Jan Švejdar for raising objections to the mandatory Covid vaccination of the police. Zeman said he was one of the few to advocate mandatory Covid vaccination. "At least one-half of doctors, including the new health minister, are against mandatory Covid vaccination," Zeman said. "In our country, there is mandatory Covid vaccination against a number of diseases. If you add Covid to the set of diseases, nothing terrible will happen," he added. Currently, Czechs have mandatory Covid vaccination against 11 diseases, mostly administered at child age.

Restrictions for those without proof of vaccination or recovery arriving to the Czech Republic from Romania will soften from Monday as the country has moved down to the medium-risk orange category in the latest Czech travel map. Restrictions from the Canary Islands, meanwhile, will tighten as the location moves to the high-risk red category. Other countries have also changed color on the latest map, but conditions for traveling from them to the Czech Republic will not be affected. Read more in our original story.