
The Czech government will allow restaurants and non-essential shops to reopen from this Thursday, December 3, as the current wave of the coronavirus pandemic eases, Health Minister Jan Blatny said on Sunday.
The Czech government agreed unanimously that the country is ready to move from Level 4 risk to Level 3, based on the country’s Covid-19 risk assessment system, Blatny said.
This means all shops and restaurants can open, with the caveat of limiting customer numbers to allow for social distancing.
A night-time curfew will be lifted and limited sports activities can resume, the Health Minister announced.
The country's Prime Minister, Andrej Babis, is overseeing one of the worst coronavirus epidemics in the world. In October he stood in front of reporters during a live news conference and apologized to his people five times when announcing restrictions.
The Czech Republic was praised for the way it handled the first wave of the pandemic in the spring when the government imposed an early lockdown and made masks compulsory at a time when most of the Western world barely considered that move.