Czech government declares state of emergency

The Czech government has declared a state of emergency because of a record surge of coronavirus infections. Health Minister Roman Prymula says it will be effective for 30 days, starting from Monday.

The new restrictive measures include a limit on public gatherings for a two-week period. All public outdoor gatherings with more than 20 people are banned, along with more than 10 for indoor events. Theatre performances and movie theatres are excluded from the bans.

Also, no fans at sports competitions and high schools at the most hard-hit regions will be closed for at least two weeks.

The Czech Republic has reported a total of 67,843 cases, with more than 43,000 testing positive in September. There has been 636 confirmed deaths. – AP