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People donated 623 tons of food and essential goods in this year’s spring Food Drive in the Czech Republic—105 tons more than last year. However, this was 151 tons less than last autumn’s record collection. The results of Saturday’s collection were announced today by the Czech Federation of Food Banks and the Confederation of Commerce and Tourism in a press release. A total of 3,539 stores took part this year, about a quarter more than last year and the highest number so far.

On Saturday alone, people donated 559 tons of food, which organizers say represents hundreds of thousands of meals for people in need. The remaining 64 tons consisted of toiletries and hygiene products. The donated items are now being transported to food bank warehouses and partner non-profit organizations, from where they will be distributed to those in need.

According to organizers, a significant group of recipients are single parents with young children, who make up about 63 percent of all beneficiaries of food aid. Donations also go to people such as elderly individuals living alone.

There have been 424 cases of vaccine-preventable diseases in the Czech Republic this year, compared to nearly 4,000 last year. The majority are cases of whooping cough, which, after years, can also infect vaccinated individuals. According to experts, the reasons include a decline in vaccination rates and, in the case of whooping cough, waning immunity years after vaccination as well as improved diagnostic methods.

In the Czech Republic, children are mandatorily vaccinated with two combination vaccines. The hexavalent vaccine protects against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenzae type b. The so-called MMR vaccine combines protection against measles, mumps, and rubella.

The more than 37,000 cases of whooping cough recorded the year before last were the highest since vaccination began in then-Czechoslovakia in 1958. Last year, the number dropped tenfold, and this year there have been 354 cases in the first quarter. According to experts, the disease tends to return in roughly five-year cycles, though the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted this pattern.

Firefighters intervened this afternoon after hazardous chemicals were discovered in a house on Nad Studánkou Street in Prague 4. Among the substances found were toxic arsenic, cyanide, mercury, radioactive thorium, and picric acid, which was historically used as an explosive.

A specialized chemical unit removed the dangerous substances for disposal, while a bomb disposal expert handled the explosives for controlled detonation. The operation concluded around 3:45 p.m., according to Prague fire brigade spokesperson Vojtěch Rotschedl.

The glass vials containing the chemicals were found during a basement clean-up. According to firefighters, there was no danger to residents, as the quantities were small. A chemical unit from Kamenice in the Central Bohemian Region was called to the scene, along with a bomb disposal expert due to the presence of picric acid. The State Office for Nuclear Safety was also informed. The building’s inner courtyard was closed off during the operation.

Dozens of people gathered today in the Křimice district of Plzeň to commemorate local victims of the two world wars, as well as American pilots who died near Křimice during the large-scale bombing of the Škoda Works in April 1945.

The memorial events took place in the newly renovated Křimice Square, where the city has relocated all three war memorials to the center.

Following commemorations of air raid victims in the Doubravka district and remembrance of other fallen American airmen in Litice, the Křimice ceremony serves as a prelude to the upcoming Liberation Festival. Since 1990, Plzeň has marked the end of World War II and the city’s liberation by the U.S. Army with these celebrations.