MPs to mull government call for further state of emergency Friday

The Czech lower house will consider the government’s call for an extension of a state of emergency at a session on Friday morning. The minority coalition government say the special legislation should be extended until the end of March in view of the worsening Covid situation. It will need the backing of at least part of the opposition to win approval for the move.

The government says that a new law on pandemics going through Parliament is insufficient to deal with the present emergency.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš says the country must tighten Covid measures to prevent a catastrophe in hospitals in the coming weeks, amid some of the world’s worst infection and death rates.

Ministers say they will decide on new restrictions after the legal situation has been resolved.