Czech Republic announces 30 day state of emergency starting Oct 5 amid rising COVID cases

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and a recent surge in virus cases, the Czech Republic has announced a 30-day state of emergency across the country starting from October 5. Czech Health Minister Roman Prymula informed of the government's decision on Wednesday, September 30.

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Will be less stringent compared to before: Health Minister

As per reports, the Czech Health Minister said, “The state of emergency will allow us to quickly respond to the current situation amid new measures against the spread of the disease, in particular, to involve medical students in helping staff in hospitals and distributing necessary medical supplies. In general, the measures will be less stringent compared to the spring ones. In particular, stores, cafes or, for example, borders will not be closed. The government intends to preserve the economy as much as possible”.

According to reports, the new measures will allow up to 10 people to gather for indoor events while the limit is 20 people for outdoor events. In an attempt to preserve the economy stores, cafes and other such establishments will not be closed, and while sporting events can go ahead, no spectators will be allowed in the events. In addition, secondary schools in the Czech Republic that have reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases will be closed for two weeks.

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As per reports, the Czech government had withdrawn almost all COVID-19 lockdown restrictions that had been imposed during the first wave of the pandemic but due to the recent surge in virus cases, the decision to declare a state of emergency was deemed necessary. The Czech Republic has currently reported over 67,000 positive virus cases with a death toll of more than 600.

The COVID-19 pandemic which saw its first outbreak in a wet market in Wuhan, China last year has now spread all across the world. The virus, named COVID-19 by the World Health Organisation, has infected over 34 million people worldwide with the global death toll crossing the one million mark. The US has reported more than 7.4 million positive COVID-19 cases and a death toll of over 210,000.

(With ANI inputs, Image: ANI)

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