Friday news summary

Over 150 thousand people have been vaccinated so far

In the Czech Republic, about 1.5 percent of the population has so far received the covid-19 vaccine, which, according to the Minister of Health Jan Blatný (for ANO), is the European average. The ministry has recently started publishing daily statistics on vaccinations, with the hospital reporting almost 155,000 applied doses by Wednesday, usually between 12,000 and 13,000 on weekdays. Now, however, the pace of vaccination is slowing down due to supply disruptions.

The emergency state extended by another three weeks

The government may extend the state of emergency until the 14th of February. The Chamber of Deputies agreed to this according to the proposal of the communist party. Other opposition parties did not support the proposal. According to Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO), the state of emergency is a necessary step in order for the measures to continue to apply. However, the minority government of ANO and the ČSSD wanted another 30 days of the emergency state until Sunday, the 21st of February.

The government hesitates with introducing mandaroty respirators

The government is waiting for Germany and Austria to cope with the introduction of mandatory FFP2 respirators in public transport and shops as it could be a financial burden for citizens, said the Minister of Health Jan Blatný (for ANO) after the cabinet meeting. He stressed that there is no need to buy protective equipment. At the same time, he recommended using respirators for those who can. According to the minister, the government is also discussing the possibility of selling respirators at reasonable prices so that everyone can afford them.

Police to investigate incident in the Parliament

The Prague police are investigating Thursday's incident in the Chamber of Deputies, during which a Member, Lubomír Volný (independent), physically attacked a Member of Parliament on suspicion of rioting. According to police spokesman Jan Daňek, the District Public Prosecutor's Office for Prague 1 reserved further information on the case. The video from the Chamber of Deputies can be seen HERE.