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Health authorities in the South Moravian Region expect the number of hepatitis cases to rise in spring. They say people will spend more time outdoors and may eat outside more often. Renata Ciupek, head of the anti-epidemic department, told journalists today that the outbreak did not slow down during winter, even when people were wearing gloves.

More frequent disinfection of public spaces and public transport vehicles also failed to reduce the spread. Ciupek partly attributes this to people not following basic hygiene habits and urges thorough handwashing and preventive vaccination.

The outbreak of Hepatitis A in the Czech Republic began last year. In the South Moravian Region, cases rose quickly in autumn and have remained high since. Health officials recorded 115 infections in January and 87 in February, nearly a third of the nationwide total. The city most affected is Brno.

Another government repatriation flight carrying Czech citizens affected by the current Middle East conflict landed in Prague overnight. A military Airbus with capacity for more than 90 passengers brought travellers from Muscat in Oman, the Foreign Ministry said.

A smaller military aircraft sent earlier to Oman had to turn back to Egypt because Muscat airport was congested. It is now waiting in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh until conditions allow the mission to continue.

The Foreign Ministry is also negotiating with airline Smartwings to arrange another repatriation flight this weekend to bring Czech citizens from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. According to the Drozd voluntary registration system, about 5,400 Czechs were in the conflict-affected region on Thursday, including around 3,200 in the United Arab Emirates.

The Czech Republic risks ranking among the NATO countries with the lowest defence spending relative to gross domestic product, US Ambassador to Prague Nicholas Merrick said on Thursday.

Speaking at the conference Our Security Is Not a Given, Merrick warned that under the current draft state budget the country could also fail to meet its NATO commitments on developing military capabilities. He added that he did not need to remind anyone how important it is for allies to fulfil those commitments.

Reacting to Merrick’s remarks, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš told Czech Television on Thursday that the defence spending proposed in this year’s draft budget is the maximum possible under current conditions. He added that the state must also address healthcare, social issues and the everyday lives of citizens.

NATO members agreed last year to raise defence spending to 3.5 percent of GDP by 2035, with a further 1.5 percent for related investments. The previous government of Petr Fiala had planned to gradually increase Czech defence spending to three percent of GDP by 2030.

The Literary Archive of the Museum of Czech Literature has acquired an authentic suitcase belonging to journalist, writer and translator Milena Jesenská, who died in the Ravensbrück concentration camp in 1944. The institution announced the acquisition at a press conference on Thursday.

Other recent additions include the literary estates of poet Jiří Kuběna and poet Vladimíra Čerepková. Artistic acquisitions include the Japanese collection of Sigismund Bouška, literary works by artist Kateřina Černá, and illustrations by early 20th-century caricaturist Zdeněk Kratochvíl.

According to archivist Petr Kotyk, the suitcase was donated by Arno Pařík of a Prague Jewish family and has been in the family since 1940, when his mother Božena Paříková brought it home from prison at Prague’s Pankrác. Jesenská had exchanged her smaller suitcase for the larger one before being taken to Dresden for interrogation.