The Prague government prohibited entry of foreign nationals into the Czech Republic. The Czech Foreign Ministry stated on its English-language Twitter page that the decision taken at the extraordinary cabinet meeting on Thursday will come into effect from midnight. According to the communication, foreigners may not enter the Czech Republic except in very justified cases until the decision is revoked.
Exceptions to this procedure are, for example, foreigners working or studying in the Czech Republic. Exceptions are also justified family visits, visits to health or social institutions, weddings and funerals. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague indicated that the government’s decision was justified by the deteriorating situation of the coronavirus epidemic in the Czech Republic.
It was previously reported that the Czech government has also tightened local precautions, starting at midnight Friday, in light of the deteriorating epidemic situation. On this basis, commercial accommodations can only accept those on service trips and this must be proven through official documents. Families can visit their own resorts, but they cannot accept strangers. The ski resorts will remain closed and hospital visits cut further.
It was also decided that, starting next week, Czech residents will be able to take a free antigen test every three days. Until now, this was possible every five days.
This scale is also related to the fact that Germany tightened For Czech guest workers working there. Czechs who work in Saxony and commute twice a week, while workers in Bavaria are required to present a new negative coronavirus test at the border every two days. According to the press in Prague, about 60,000 Czechs travel to Germany every day for work.
The reason for the government’s decisions is that after more than two weeks, the moderate improvement in the epidemiological situation stopped and some indicators began to deteriorate again. The main determining cause is the stoppage of pressure on hospitals. The number of people who have been treated in the hospital continuously reached 6 thousand a week ago, while the number of severe cases reached about a thousand. Health Minister Jean Platne said that the precautionary measures would only be curtailed if the number of people treated in hospital fell to less than 3,000. The last time this was the case in mid-October.
