Government declaring state of emergency as refugee numbers soar

The Czech government is declaring a state of emergency as of Friday in order to help deal with the growing number of refugees pouring in from Ukraine. The foreign police has registered close to 25,000 refugees since the start of the Russian military aggression, with over 10,000 registering in the course of Wednesday alone. There are now registration hotspots in all the regions and Ukrainian refugees need to register within three days of arrival, by which they automatically gain health insurance in the country. They have three months within which to request a year-long entry visa and labour permit.  The interior ministry has issued over 13,600 of these entry visas so far.