Having passed the “Easter test” with flying color, economic life is set to return to the Czech Republic faster than originally planned. The government has pushed forward the pace of business openings and loosening of restrictions. Stores of up to 2,500 sqm will be able to open on April 27, so long as they aren’t located in shopping centers. But even malls have seen a substantial change, as they will be able to open by May 11 rather than the originally planned June 8. There were fears that the carelessness of many Czechs over the Easter holiday, when some stores including DIYs were allowed to open, would result in a spike in new COVID-19 infections. “The results following Easter were excellent,” said Minister of Industry Karel Havlíček. “The R0 factor is running at around 0.74. We’ve confirmed that the Czech Republic is able to deal with the virus well and that the measures were successful. Now we can afford to start loosening them more quickly.” Restaurants and hotels could reopen as soon as May 25 under the current plan.
