Face masks will not be mandatory in Czech nurseries, special education schools

Prague, Aug 19 (CTK) – Face masks will not be mandatory at special schools for children with disabilities and in nurseries in the Czech Republic as of September 1, Education Minister Robert Plaga (ANO) told CTK today.

The exemption from this duty will be included in the Health Ministry’s extraordinary measures to be valid at schools as of the new school year.

Special schools and nurseries enjoyed a similar exemption in the spring when wearing of face masks was mandatory in a much broader sense.

Children at other schools will be obliged to wear face masks outside classrooms, except for in school cafeterias and during physical education, Plaga told CTK.

Today, the Health Ministry is to issue an extraordinary measure including exemptions from this duty.

Face masks were mandatory in cloakrooms and corridors at schools till June 30, the end of the past school year, over the coronavirus epidemic. Children under two, those in nurseries and the mentally disabled did not have to wear them.

Vojtěch also indicated that face masks would not be worn in restaurants and workplaces without public access, such as offices.

The wearing of face masks or other nose and mouth covers was mandatory in public in the Czech Republic from mid-March, and then it was gradually softened.

It was not obligatory for actors during performances and when shooting films and other programmes, for TV and radio moderators and for portrait and group photos. Public transport drivers in closed cabs, workers exposed to heat and lifeguards at public swimming pools were not obliged to wear face masks either.

At present, face mask requirement is still valid in the Prague metro and healthcare facilities.