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To date, 29 political parties, movements and coalitions have submitted candidate lists for the October parliamentary election ahead of the Tuesday afternoon deadline.

According to the Office for the Supervision of Parties and Movements, that is two fewer than four years ago, when 31 parties and movements fielded candidates, nine of which won mandates in the lower house.

In previous elections, each member of a political coalition had to garner 5 percent of the votes to enter Parliament -- the same threshold as an individual party needed, thus discouraging coalitions from forming.

The Czech Olympic Committee (COC) has finished its investigation into the official flight that transported a part of the Czech Olympic Team to Tokyo after which several team members tested positive for the coronavirus. The subsequent report has found no systemic or serious individual failures. However, some members of the team did not wear masks during the flight and immediately after the landing in the Japanese capital, the Chairman of the Czech Olympic Committee Jiří Kejval told Czech Radio on Sunday.

Mr Kejval said that the report failed to shed light on how a person infected with COVID-19 managed to get onto the plane. Two coronavirus tests were conducted ahead of the flight, the last of which took place 24 hours before take off. The Czech Olympic Committee believes that testing should therefore either be moved closer to take off time, or another set of tests should be added. Introducing another safety measure is also under consideration, Mr Kejval said.

The results of the investigation will be forwarded to the International Olympic Committee in order to prevent the possibility of a similar event occurring during the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing next year.

The head of the Czech Republic’s National Sports Agency, Filip Neusser, criticised that the report was conducted by the Czech Olympic Committee which was responsible for transporting the athletes and other team members in the first place. Mr Kejval responded by saying that the Czech Olympic Committee had conducted the investigation upon request from the International Olympic Committee.

Four Czech Olympic team athletes – cyclist Michal Schlegel, volleyball players Ondřej Perušič and Markéta Nausch Sluková, and table tennis player Pavel Širuček – as well as a team coach and a doctor tested positive for COVID-19 after the flight.

Roughly a hundred people a year begin the process of gender transition in the Czech Republic, according to data published by the Czech Association of Health Insurers. Most of the concerned individuals opt for hormonal therapy, with only about 3 percent choosing to undergo an operation.

Hormonal therapy costs insurers around CZK 3,500 and gender transition operations around CZK 100,000. In total, annual costs for gender transitions reach roughly CZK 10 million a year,  Ludmila Plšková from the Association of Health Insurers told Czech Radio.

Adjustments to the government’s coronavirus measures came into effect this Sunday. The ceiling on outdoor sports and cultural events has been raised to 7,000 and while 3,000 people are now allowed at indoor events on condition that they produce a negative coronavirus test, certificate of vaccination or post-Covid immunity.

Meanwhile, organizers of mass events need to ensure that they only sell tickets to individuals who fulfill the requirements.

Dancing is once again allowed at dance clubs and discos. Swimming pools are able to operate at full capacity, galleries and exhibitions at 75 percent capacity.