Wednesday news summary

Tighter measures?

The government plans to tighten the anti-covid measures, according to the Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO). The cabinet will decide on specific bans tonight, but the prime minister has indicated that they will be similar to those in March last year.

According to seznamzpravy.cz, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) after the extraordinary meeting of the government in the morning said: "Measures need to be tightened. If we don't do that, the next two or three weeks we would be facing big problems in healthcare, disaster." At the same time, the government will ask the Chamber of Deputies to extend the state of emergency.

The government will present the specific form of the measures after the evening meeting, which should start at 8 p.m. In the meantime, government officials will meet with the opposition, employers' and trade union representatives, the government's National Economic Council, and the 40-day initiative, which includes doctors and other experts.

Students will not return to schools in March

Students will not return to schools at the beginning of March, according to Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO), this is not possible. Babiš stated that he will not say any other date for the possible return of children to school.

Covid update

On Tuesday, there were 15,672 cases of Covid-19 in the Czech Republic, which is the highest number since the 6th of January. There was a slight decrease in hospitalization compared to Monday, but there are still almost 1,400 patients in serious condition. The PES score is at 75 points, the reproduction number remains at 1.18.

Former President Vaclav Klaus, who is one of the strongest opponents of wearing masks, fell ill with Covid-19. According to the server lidovky.cz, the 79-year-old former president tested positive for Covid-19 in the afternoon and now is in home treatment.

The number of homeless people has been increasing

The number of homeless people has been increasing, and problems in the labour market and the high price of real estate can make the situation even worse. The results of the Census of Homeless People in the Czech Republic, last conducted by the Research Institute of Labor and Social Affairs in April 2019, show that there are approximately 23,800 people in the Czech Republic who sleep outside, in dormitories, asylums and in facilities designed to accommodate homeless people. From this number, there is almost 3,000 children.