Dutch tourist killed in bobsleigh accident
A twenty-six-year-old Dutch tourist was killed in a bobsleigh accident in the Harrachov ski resort late Wednesday, the ctk news agency reports. The man careened off the closed track and smashed into a tree. He died on impact.
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Mandatory testing of clients in social facilities to start on Wednesday
10/30/2020A mandatory testing of clients in senior homes and other social facilities in the Czech Republic will probably begin next Wednesday, the head of the Czech Association of Social Services, Jiří Horecký, told the Czech News Agency on Friday. The mandatory testing in these institutions was approved by the government on Tuesday.
The first wave of testing will use antigenic COVID-19 tests, which are less reliable, but are able to indicate the level of spread faster than normal PCR testing. A second, more reliable wave of tests will follow.
On Thursday, over 3,000 clients and nearly 2,200 employees of social facilities tested positive for Covid-19.
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Weather
10/30/2020Saturday is expected to be partly cloudy to overcast with daytime highs ranging between 12 and 14 degrees Celsius.
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Czech economy mitigates its downturn in third quarter
10/30/2020The Czech economy slightly mitigated its fall in the third quarter of 2020, the Czech Statistics Office reported on Friday. According to its preliminary estimate, the gross domestic product decreased by 5.8 percent year-on-year and by 6.2 percent in quarterly terms.
In the second quarter, the Czech economy experienced a fall of 10.9 percent, the worst result in the history of the independent Czech Republic.
Analysts expect that due to the restrictive measures connected to the coronavirus pandemic the year-on-year fall will again exceed the ten-percent mark in the last quarter of 2020.
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Jaromír Alan to become Czechia’s new NATO and EU military representative
10/30/2020Major General Jaromír Alan will be appointed the new NATO and EU military representative of the Czech Republic, the spokeswoman for the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces told the Czech News Agency on Friday. He will replace Lieutenant General František Malenínský in the post.
Major General Jaromír Alan has served as director of the Capability Planning Division of the Ministry of Defence. He has also worked as Chief of Staff, with the Czech Delegation to NATO HQ, Brussels and has combat experience from his deployment in the Balkans operations.
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Mixed results for Czech clubs in Europa League
10/30/2020Slavia Prague were the only Czech club to do well in the group stage of football’s Europa League on Thursday night. The Czech title-holders beat Germany’s Leverkusen 1:0 in Prague, with the only goal coming from Peter Olayinka.
By contrast Slovan Liberec suffered a 1:5 away defeat at the hands of Crvena zvezda Belgrade, while Sparta Prague lost 3:0, also away, to AC Milan. -
Over 1,000 now in intensive care with Covid-19 in Czech hospitals
10/30/2020Some 13,051 new cases of Covid-19 were registered in the Czech Republic on Thursday. The total number of active cases in the country now stands at 178,578, according to official Ministry of Health data.
The number of deaths with the coronavirus has climbed to 2,862, with 540 of those occurring so far this week.
The number of patients with Covid-19 in a critical condition has passed 1,000 for the first time, reaching 1,031. Some 6,604 people are hospitalised with the virus. -
New health minister aims to replace fear of Covid-19 with respect for virus
10/29/2020The new minister of health, Jan Blatný, has outlined his vision for the post his first news conference since being appointed. Dr. Blatný said the main goal for him and his government department would be to change the situation with regard to Covid-19 and the mood in society. He said fear of the virus, which was paralyzing and dividing people, needed to be traded for respect.
The new minister said the current strict measures aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus would not need to be tightened further in a significant way. However, people need to respect them, he said.
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Man faces terror charge after threatening to drive truck into crowd over closed bars
10/29/2020Police have charged a man from Pardubice who is accused of saying on Facebook that he would drive a truck into people if restaurants and bars were not reopened. They are closed under Covid-19 restrictions.
The man, who is 62, faces from five to 15 years in jail for threatening an act of terrorism, a police spokesperson said.
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Farmers’ markets want loosening of new Covid-19 restriction
10/29/2020The Czech Association of Farmers’ Markets have called on the government to reconsider restrictions on such sites imposed in a bid to curb Covid-19 infections. A new measure says there may be no more than 20 persons in a 400 metre square space at farmers’ markets. However, this amounts to far more than the standard two-metre distance required and makes markets unfeasible to hold, say operators.
Restrictions introduced this week allow the sale of agricultural products only at markets. No consumption of food or drink is allowed on site.
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Babiš expresses horror over fatal attack in Nice
10/29/2020The Czech prime minister, Andrej Babiš, says he is “absolutely horrified by the barbarous attack in Nice” on Thursday. Three people were killed in the apparent terrorist incident. Mr. Babiš wrote on Twitter that he stood by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and all French people.
The Czech minister of foreign affairs, Tomáš Petříček, said whatever the motivation nothing could excuse the brutal attack in Nice, another attempt in Avignon and an attack on the French Embassy in Saudi Arabia. He also expressed sympathy with the victims.
