With the pace of COVID-19 contagion slowing in the Czech Republic, officials have been preparing the nation for a gradual easing of restrictions on freedom of movement and on a gradual opening of stores according to their size. The government is due to make an announcement on Tuesday, but there’s growing concern following the Easter holiday weekend. Many Czechs were out and about, taking full advantage of the permission granted to carry out sports like running, biking and in-line skating without a mask. But there’s concern that many others were meeting in groups and visiting each other in contradiction to the continuing recommendations. On the other hand, leading economic experts and influential business leaders are sounding the alarm that a relaxation of the stranglehold must come soon to avoid a more generalized liquidity crisis, unless the government can quickly roll out a massive emergency aid package. The task force in charge of policy decisions during the crisis appears to have set a limit of 400 infections per day as its benchmark for enabling stores and services re-open. If there’s too large a spike in infections following what epidimiologists fear was an undisciplined weekend, stores, restaurants and business could remain closed. The number of infections has been below 300 per day since April 4 and hasn’t broken 200 since April 9, but the total number of confirmed cases is now roughly 6,000.
