Measures adopted by the Czech Government against coronavirus

Outline

General measures

A 30-day state of emergency was declared as of 12 March. This state of emergency was later extended until 30 April 2020. The state of emergency was subsequently extended until 17 May 2020.
As of 13 March, full-time education in elementary, secondary and tertiary educational facilities was cancelled, as well as in universities and facilities specialised in language training. Events organised by these organisations are forbidden.
As of 13 March, 6:00 am, all sporting, cultural, religious and other activities both public and private involving more than 30 people are forbidden. This does not apply to meetings of the state administration (e.g. the judiciary, Government meetings, meetings of institutional bodies), or to funerals.
As of 14 March, public access to swimming pools and tourist information centres is forbidden. The same applies to indoor and outdoor sports centres service providers (over 30 people at any one time) and retail sales in stalls and markets. This restriction applies also to casinos, public restaurants and other food service establishments, including food courts in shopping malls larger than 5000 m².
As of 14 March, retail sales and the sales of services in business premises are forbidden, with the exception of foodstuffs, electronics, ICT, fuel, pharmacies, chemists, animal welfare goods and feeds, opticians, newsagents, laundromats and e-shops. As of 26 March, there are new exceptions to this ban: locksmithing and servicing of household products, repair, maintenance and installation of household machinery and equipment, funeral services and car washes. This measure will last at least until 11 April and may be extended.
As of 16 March, free movement is limited with the exception of travel to and from work and trips necessary to ensure basic human needs (e.g. foodstuffs, pharma shopping, helping older family members). The provision of de accommodation services is forbidden. This limitation on free movement applies until the end of the state of emergency. As of 27 March, accommodation services are allowed to accommodate guests who need accommodation for the purposes of work or business.
As of 18 March, all re-export of medicines and medicinal products registered for CZ market to the EU and any export of such outside the EU is forbidden. With effect from the same day, all stores and transport operators are advised to regularly disinfect their premises, particularly areas that routinely come into contact with people.
As of 19 March, all persons need to wear a face mask or other covering of the nose and mouth while outside of their place of residence. As of 9 April, an exemption has been granted from wearing protective masks while travelling by car for members of a single household and for bus drivers who are separated their from passengers in a separate cabin.
As of 20 March, access to retail stores between 7:00am and 9:00am is restricted exclusively to persons over the age of 65.
As of 25 March, all shops over 500 m2 are reserved from 8:00am to 10:00am for seniors and disabled persons above 50 years of age. In stores below 500 m2, employees are instructed to give priority to the aforementioned persons.
As of 30 March 2020, the so-called “smart quarantine” project has started up in test mode. The goal of smart quarantine is to prevent the further spread of SARS CoV-2 coronavirus in the Czech Republic as quickly and effectively as possible. Smart quarantine, which will map the contacts of positively tested individuals for COVID-19 using modern information technologies, is intended to help regional hygiene stations trace any other potentially infected people.
An obligation for landlords using digital platforms (e.g. Airbnb), to inform the municipal trade licensing office, at its request, of the number of contracts concluded for tourism services, the total price for these services, as well as the address of the place where guests were staying. In the future, the data may be used to trace those accommodated in the event of the threat of the infection spreading.
A draft Bill on the powers of the Czech Police and the municipal police to penalise breaches of crisis measures, was adopted. Police officers will now be able to penalise on the spot any persons in breach of the crisis measures, even in cases that have to be normally dealt with in administrative proceedings.
As of Tuesday 7 April, individual outdoor sports are permitted. When keeping a safe distance of two metres and with a maximum of two people, these sports can be performed without respiratory protection. The ban on use of common spaces like showers and lockers is still in force. From the same date, raw material collection yards, waste collection yards and composting plants may also be in operation.
As of Thursday 9 April, all hobby markets, building material shops, ironmongeries and shops providing sale and service of bicycles are reopened. These will have to follow stricter hygiene rules, such as the obligation to place hand disinfection at the entrance, strict adherence to safety distancing and the obligation to wear gloves.
As of April 20, the following business can be reopened: craft workshops (except for professions where a direct physical contact with clients is a requirement), car dealers, outdoor markets or dog grooming salons. From the same date, students of the last year of university programmes may return to their universities for individual consultations. Last but not least, weddings of up to 10 people and outdoor training sessions of professional athletes (both under strict hygiene conditions) may be held as well.
As of April 27, church services with a maximum of 15 persons can be held under strict hygienic conditions.
An accelerated plan to relax restrictions on businesses and other activities has been introduced:
as of 20 April – craft workshops, farmers‘ markets, car dealerships, outdoor training activities for professional athletes, weddings of up to 10 people,
as of 27 April – business premises up to 2,500 m2, (only if these are not in shopping malls over 5,000 m2), driving schools, gyms and fitness facilities without the use of locker rooms and showers, church services for up to 15 people, libraries, outdoor expositions of zoological gardens,
as of 11 May – shops in shopping centres, business premises over 2,500 m2, restaurants can open their gardens while serving food there, beauty services, museums, galleries, outdoor premises of castles and chateaus, outdoor training activities for professional athletes without public access. All theatres, cinemas and circuses may now be opened (max 100 persons),
as of 25 May – restaurants, accommodation services, taxi services, tattoo salons, theatres, cultural and sporting events (limit on number of participants TBC), weddings, indoor expositions of zoological gardens.
As of 24 April, free movement of people outside will be possible for groups of up to and including 10 people.
As of Monday April 27, all university students are now able take part in personal individual consultations.
An accelerated plan by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs to relax measures in social services has been approved:
as of 27 April – social services will be working online and via telephone,
as of 11 May – opening of social services for youths and families with kids,
as of 25 May – permission to visit clients of social accommodation services and opening of all social services for clients under 50 years of age,
as of 8 June – renewal of individual planning and contracts (e.g. the possibility of walks outside the complex),
as of 22 Junes – opening of all social services for all groups including seniors.
As of 1 May, an exemption for wearing protective masks has been approved. This concerns mentally ill people, children under the age of seven in kindergartens, artists (actors or singers) at work and TV presenters.
As of 11 May, pupils in the last year of primary schools can return to schools together with students in the last year of secondary schools and conservatories. Participation will not be mandatory and can take place in a group of a maximum of 15 people.
As of Tuesday 5 May, new exceptions to the wearing of protective masks apply for kindergarten teachers, children, pupils, students and pedagogical staff during school lectures.
A bill, which specifies the remits of the Ministry of Health to take operational measures to prevent the further spread of covid-19, has been approved. The law applies only until the end of 2020 and gives the ministry the opportunity to limit certain high-risk activities or services.
As of Monday 25 May, wearing of protective masks will be mandatory only in the interiors of buildings other than the place of residence and in public transport.
As of Tuesday 12 May, persons during entrance exams for high schools and universities, during daily classes at one-year foreign language courses or when providing counselling services will not have to wear protective masks. The exception applies only if the distance between attendants is at least 1.5 meters and with the maximum number of 15 persons in one room.
An amendment to the Public Procurement Act, which aims to simplify the purchase process of personal protective equipment as emergency supplies after the end of the state of emergency, has been approved. The contracting authority would then not have to meet all the usual requirements of the law and could significantly speed up the realisation of the purchase.
A bill to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus epidemic in the area of proving qualifications for the purposes of employment relations has been approved. Due to the impossibility of ensuring an objective review of qualification preconditions, it will be possible to meet the requirements of legal regulations and technical standards for the performance of agreed types of work only formally. This possibility should end six months after the end of the state of emergency.
As of Tuesday 19 May, workers in offices sitting at least 2 meters away from other colleagues, will not have to use a protective mask while working. The same exception applies to workers, who work with a high heat load.
As of 26 May, the reserved period for shopping for seniors is abolished, the obligation to use a protective shield for barbers, hairdressers, masseurs and other similar professions is abolished and the obligation to wear a protective mask at work is abolished if a person works at least 2 meters away from another person.
As of 1 June, a voluntary return to schools is possible for pupils of special primary schools and pupils of high schools and conservatories for the purpose of practical teaching. The maximum number of students in one group is 15.
As of 8 June, all pupils and students of primary schools, secondary schools, conservatories and higher vocational schools can return to schools voluntarily for consultations. The maximum number of students in one group is 15.
As a part of the so-called Smart Quarantine 2.0 project, a new Emergency Operations Centre Department, which will report directly to the Chief Hygienist of the Czech Republic, will be established at the Ministry of Health. Among other things, the department will be responsible for analysing threats with an impact on public health, for proposing solutions and for developing and managing the Smart Quarantine 2.0 project.
As of June 8, it will be possible to organize events with the participation of up to 500 persons, terraces of restaurant will be able to remain open even after 11 pm, it will be possible to try on clothes at outdoor markets and the number of people who may be in the zoo, botanical garden or grounds of castles is increased to 250 per hectare. In exhibition halls, castles, theatres, cinemas, concert halls and circuses can be now up to 500 persons. The obligation of social distancing in auditoriums of theatres and cinemas and the obligation of visitors of swimming pools to wear a protective mask is abolished.
The decision to deploy members of the Czech Armed Forces in rescue work to protect the population and prevent the spread of coronavirus was made on 13 July. This involved the deployment of 68 soldiers in total. They will be at the disposal of the Ministry of Health.
Special voting methods for regional and senatorial elections were approved. Even people in quarantine and in closed facilities can now vote. Voting will be possible via voting drive-ins, directly inside closed facilities and using special portable ballot boxes.
A Health Risks Council has been established to deal with serious health risks that could pose a threat to the population or to the Czech Republic. The President of the Council is Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. The Integrated Central Management Team, which will be the executive operational body and will deal with any problems as necessary, will be subordinated to the Council.
The Czech Republic is using a traffic-light system dividing individual districts by colour based on the occurrence of infection and its community transmission. White, green, yellow and red are used for the individual districts according to the level of risk.
The obligation of schools to provide distance education to pupils in the event of another school closure, or if pupils‘ school attendance is banned, was also approved. Pupils are obliged to attend distance education as part of their compulsory education.
The release of CZK 984.5 million was approved for acquisition of technical equipment for schools to provide distance education. The total amount is nearly CZK 1.3 billion. Each teacher will receive CZK 20,000. Schools will use these funds to acquire technical equipment and software to provide online teaching. Regions need not request the funds.
The valid recommendation for authorities contains a set of measures to limit the risk of infections occurring and being transmitted between employees. For example, it is compulsory to wear face masks in common areas, practise social distancing and introduce staggered operation.
From 1 September public events attended by more than 1,000 people at the same time (if the event is mostly outside) and 500 people (if the event is mostly indoors) are restricted.
From 1 September it is also forbidden to be in indoor spaces and the public transport without wearing protective equipment to cover the mouth and nose.
The move to send personal protective equipment via Czech Post to the endangered population over 60 years of age was approved. Every Czech citizen over the age of 60 should receive a package containing one FFP2 respirator and five face masks.
From 24 September catering facilities will be closed from 22:00 to 6:00. This measure will remain in force for 14 days.
From 24 September the attendance limit for public events at venues divided into sectors will be reduced to 100 people at indoor venues and 2,000 people at outdoor venues. The limits for events without sectors are still 500 people at indoor venues and 1,000 at outdoor venues. This measure will remain in force for 14 days. For events attended by 10 or more people at indoor venues and 50 or more people at outdoor venues, however, all attendees must have a place to sit.
A 30-day state of emergency was declared as of 5 October.
As of 5 October mass-attendance events is restricted. This restriction will remain in force for 14 days.
- During this period, mass-attendance events for more than 10 people indoors and more than 20 people outdoors, with the exception of family members, will be prohibited, bar specific exceptions.
- Concerts, theatre performances and other artistic performances and festivals involving a significant amount of singing, including rehearsals, will also be prohibited.
- Theatre, film and other performances not involving singing, for example, may take place with an attendance of at most 500 people, all seated, and without the offer of refreshments.
- Sporting events that are part of official competitions may take place with the involvement of at most 130 people but no spectators – this also applies to organised training sessions.
- There is a 100-person limit on attendance of religious services, at which singing is also prohibited, and on public participation in sessions of municipal or regional self-administration.
- There is also a change for hospitality services establishments, where it now applies that at most 6 people may sit at one table.
As of 5 October, there are also restrictions on school attendance. Educational facilities would follow the instructions of their regional public health authorities, which will issue measures depending on the situation in the region and in line with the epidemiological traffic light system.
- A restriction on tuition in the form of a switch to distance learning is to apply from Monday 5 October to secondary and higher vocational schools and universities in regions with a red or amber colour.
Schools and school facilities will receive up to 2.9 million respirators from state reserves. Each pedagogical and non-pedagogical worker will receive ten respirators of the FFP2 class.
As of 5 October 2020, there are also changes in the organization and implementation of quarantine for social service providers.
As of 5 October, the operation of catering, accommodation and other services will be further limited.
As of 9 October there is once more a ban on the operation of gambling and casinos, the operation and use of indoor sports grounds (with the exception of physical education in the first stage of elementary schools), on the operation of artificial swimming pools and all wellness facilities, other than health services. Also visits and tours to zoos and all organized hobby, recreational and other clubs for children from 6 to 18 years old are banned. There will be further restrictions on restaurants, bars and similar catering facilities, as well as discotheques and clubs, which, with the exception of dispensing windows, will once more have to close at 20:00, with no more than four people being allowed at a table at a time. In food courts, only two people will be able to sit at one table and there will be no public wireless internet connection anywhere. It will be possible to enter shopping centres and other establishments in groups of a maximum of two people.
As of 12 October, all cultural, sporting and social events, religious services, dance or club events, both amateur and professional, will be cancelled if they bring together more than ten people indoors or twenty people outdoors, unless these are members of the same household. No fun fairs, congresses or trade fairs will be allowed. The participation of people at weddings and funerals and subsequent banquets/wakes will also be limited to 30 people, and the right of assembly will be limited to a maximum of 500, and participants in these events may move around in groups of up to 20 maintaining social distancing of at least 2 metres and must have face masks or the equivalent (protect respiratory equipment).
As of 12 October, the presence of students at universities will be prohibited, with the exception of clinical and practical teaching and internships of students in the study programmes for general medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and other healthcare study programmes. With the exception of compulsory school attendance, practical teaching and school practical training and teaching at institutions for institutional care or protective care, at the Ministry of Justice and one- and two-year practical schools, teaching at secondary and higher vocational schools and conservatories will also be prohibited.
Pupils of the second stage of elementary schools will be divided into half-classes, with each half of the class going to school in only one of the next two weeks. With the exception of individual tuition, the operation of elementary artistic and language schools is also prohibited, and a total ban will also affect leisure centres and school clubs.
A total ban on school attendance will then apply on 26 and 27 October, as this will be followed by the public holiday on 28 October and the subsequent short autumn holiday.
There are also limitations of activities of public authorities and institutions so that office hours for the public will be only two days a week and five hours a day for two weeks.
There is also, with some exceptions, ban on visits to medical and social facilities.
As of 13 October people will newly have to wear masks or other protective breathing equipment at mass transit stops, platforms and waiting rooms.
As of 14 October it will not be possible for more than six people to congregate in one place, either inside or outside, organised or not, except for precisely specified exceptions. Patrons will not be able to go to restaurants, bars and similar catering establishments. They can only be served through a dispensing window, though only until 8 p.m. The only exception will be hotel restaurants for hotel guests and wedding and funeral receptions. All music, dance, gaming and other social clubs and discotheques must also close. It will be entirely prohibited to consume alcoholic beverages in public.
There will also be changes in the operation of school facilities, elementary schools, after-school activities and school clubs will also be completely closed from 14 October. Schools will remain closed until 2 November.
The regional governors and Prague Mayor, however, were tasked by the government to ensure care for children aged 3-10 of employees in law enforcement, the armed forces and other branches of the integrated emergency services, hygienic stations and also providers of health and social services, so that the operation of critical infrastructure and health and social facilities is not endangered.
The work obligation applies to students of selected years of medical faculties, pharmacy, dentistry and higher vocational and secondary medical schools.
The government decided to release 190 000 FFP2 respirators and 1 000 000 masks from the state material reserves in order to provide them free of charge to people benefiting from a disability pension for a third-degree disability and people younger than 18 who were granted a disability card for a severe health disability (ZTP) or severe health disability requiring special assistance (ZTP/P).
The state will provide personal protective equipment for employees of facilities for children requiring immediate help and vulnerable children, to whom care is also provided during the state of emergency. Up to 26 580 FFP2 respirators, 186 000 masks, 49 500 protective gloves and 2 475 protective shields will be available for these facilities from the state material reserves for the duration of the state of emergency.
As of 21 October people will also have to wear face masks even in cars, if they are travelling with someone who is not a member of a joint household, and in publicly accessible places in the built-up area of a municipality, if at that place there are more than two persons closer than two metres apart and they are not members of the same household.
Practical teaching and practical training of pupils and students in medical disciplines will now also be exempt from the ban on the operation of school facilities.
Hospitals will now have to report to the ISIN care coordination system the admission to in-patient care of any patient with Covid-19, within one hour.
There will be a backup medical facility with 500 beds built in the exhibition grounds in Letňany, Prague. The hospital will be activated as needed and will treat mild cases, but will also have available ten beds with ventilators.
The Administration of State Material Reserves has create an adequate emergency supply of hospital beds for intensive and routine care and of pulmonary ventilators. The state reserves should have 1,500 beds for standard care, 500 beds suitable for intensive care and 500 pulmonary ventilators for artificial lung ventilation. The government has released more than 400 million crowns from the government budget reserve for the purchase of this medical equipment.
As of 23 October visits to the accused in remand prisons, to serving prisoners and to inmates in pre-trial detention will be banned.
New crisis measure is intended to allow foreign workers to participate on a flexible basis in coronavirus crisis relief. During the state of emergency foreigners with an employee or blue card will no longer have to meet the conditions stipulated by law for a change of employment, such as a six-month period of previous employment in the Czech Republic.
As of Thursday, 22 October, from 6.00 am the free movement of persons throughout the Czech Republic is prohibited. there will be several exceptions to this ban, in particular for trips to work and in connection with business, for trips to see family, for the purchase of basic necessities and for trips to health-care facilities. People will also be able to go out to parks, into nature or go to their own holiday cottage, and to stay there.
As od 22 October, retail sales and the sale and provision of services in establishments are also prohibited. Exceptions include, for example, the sale of food, fuel, drugstore items and newspapers, tobacco and magazines; car repair workshops, dry cleaners, pharmacies, funeral services and florists will also be open. With a few exceptions, hotels and other accommodation facilities as well as food courts in shopping malls will also have to close.
The operation of public authorities and administrative bodies will also be reduced to the essential minimum. Office hours for these remain limited to five hours a day, two days a week, with the authorities always having to ensure they have lowest necessary number of employees in the workplace.
As of 28 October From 9 pm until five in the morning, people will only be allowed out into the streets if they are going to work or running a business, or if they perform their work there. Otherwise it is only allowed in urgent cases, for example to protect health, property or life, or to walk one’s dog, in which case however people are only allowed to do so within 500 metres of their place of residence. Employers should make use of remote work if the nature of their employees‘ work allows them to work from home.
As of 28 October it has banned the sale of furniture, carpets and floor coverings, the operation of betting offices, and has restricted retail at open-air markets, market halls and mobile premises so that only selected types of food can be sold there, which may not be consumed on-site. All shops aside from petrol stations, pharmacies, shops at airports, train stations and hospitals, and catering operations must be closed on Sunday, and on weekdays from 8 pm to 5 am.
As of 28 October providers of medical services have the obligation to stop admitting new patients for planned procedures and continually increase capacity for acute inpatient care, including intensive care capacity, designated for patients with COVID-19.
There will be launching of a testing system in the form of antigen tests for Covid-19. In the first phase, testing will focus on the most vulnerable groups, such as the elderly in social care facilities, patients in after-care, doctors and health professionals.
State of emergency in the Czech Republic is to remain in force until 20 November.
As of 31 October there is an exemption from the ban on operating a business or trade in connection with the upcoming All Souls’ Day for shops selling remembrance goods, such as wreaths, floral decorations for graves, remembrance candles, etc., including stallholders and mobile shops.
As of 2 November, providing care for children from 3 to 10 years of age of employees of selected professions and institutions now also includes the children of employees of schools and other teaching facilities, of the Czech postal service and the Financial Administration.
As of 2 November, the restriction on school operations is extended. The restriction will now be extended to special schools, and teaching will take place on a remote basis.
Restrictions on the free movement of people now have among their exceptions travel to education and examinations, and travel to elections to the bodies of insurance companies; with regard to restrictions on the right of assembly, it has been clarified that gatherings will only be allowed outdoors.
In restrictions of retail sales and provision of services, spas can now accept patients from hospitals.
As of 2 November, use of data boxes will temporarily be free of charge.
As of 4 November providers of healthcare and social services have to test within seven days all their patients and clients with the new antigen tests.
As of 4 November there is a change of crisis measure of free movement and on the ban of retail sales. It permits the training and competition of professional athletes. This change will enable, for example, the restart of the top leagues in collective sports.
As of 9 November regional governors and the Mayor of Prague have to ensure and organize the allocation of space with bed capacity for the isolation of those shown to be infected with the coronavirus.
The implementation of the European Union recommendation regarding the ban on travel from non-EU countries bar permitted exceptions is also approved. The epidemiological rules for Czech citizens travelling abroad and for foreign nationals coming to the Czech Republic will now be governed by the “international traffic light system”, which will be the same for the entire European Union.
The provision of three milion FFP2 respirators from state´s material reserve to staff of residential social services and care services have been approved.
The state of emergency in the Czech Republic will be extended until 12 December 2020. All of the current emergency measures, which the Cabinet adopted as part of the declaration of a state of emergency in effect until 20 November 2020, will remain in force during an additional three weeks.
As of 23 November there will be shortening of the curfew to the time from 11:00 p.m. to 4:59 a.m. on the next day. A new exemption from the curfew will include return to a person’s place or residence. The limit for gatherings of unrelated persons will increase from two to six.
As of 23 November changes in the retail and services sectors will allow the outdoor sale of Christmas trees, decorations, and the traditional Czech carp. Stores will be allowed to stay open until 11:00 p.m.
The easing of restrictions will also apply to the education system. Starting on 23 November 2020, it will be permitted to administer internationally recognized tests.
On 25 November 2020, schools will reopen for senior students in the last year of secondary school, post-secondary vocational school, and conservatory programs as well as for hands-on training. Likewise, one-on-one lessons will be permitted in art and language schools.
As of 25 November universities will reopen for hands-on, laboratory, experimental, and art tuition for senior students in the last year of their study program, where attendance will be limited to groups of no more than 20 students. Likewise, doctoral students will be able to resume their individual study plans.
As of 30 November 2020, Grade 1 to 5 and Grade 9 students will return to schools, and Grade 6 to 8 students as well as students in the corresponding years of extended-curriculum grammar schools will begin attending classes on a rotating basis.
As of 25 november, regional governors and the mayor of Prague can give priority to ending the work obligation of students in their final year of secondary school or higher vocational school. The purpose of this change is to allow students to start preparing for final exams
As of 24 November, there will be lifting of the ban on in-patient medical facilities conducting non-urgent operations due to the risk of overloading their capacity. Hospitals must maintain reserve capacity for patients with COVID-19 in case their numbers grow.
As of 3 December, all shops and services will be allowed to open under clearly defined conditions. Amateur sport competitions will be able to start under strict conditions and without spectators, and now ten people will be permitted to gather in one place indoors and fifty outdoors. Cable cars and ski lifts will remain closed to the public.
As of 3 December, the night-time curfew is being lifted, as are the bans on Sunday shopping and consuming alcohol in public.
As of 5 December, the visiting rules at social service facilities will change. Visitors will be allowed to visit if they undergo an antigen test for COVID-19 upon arrival, or if they present a valid PCR test or document attesting to having recovered from COVID-19 in the past 90 days.
As of 7 December, the remaining years of secondary schools will also be allowed to return to school, but under the condition that classes will alternate weeks of regular attendance and remote instruction.
From 4 to 18 December, new measure deals with the conducting of antigen tests for COVID-19 on teaching staff if they express an interest.
As of 8 there are rules for the antigen testing of all clients of domestic health insurance companies that express an interest. These rules for testing will remain in effect until 15 January.
As of 9 December it will once again be prohibited to consume alcohol in public. It will also be prohibited to sell it „to go“ from take-out windows or restaurants, as well as at markets.
As of 9 December, restaurants and other catering establishments will have to close at 8 pm and will not be allowed to run take-out windows after that time either.
As of 10 December, the government is lifting the obligation for medical students to work at healthcare facilities and public health stations.
As of 16 December, work duties for students are completely abolished.
As of 16 December, antigen testing of the population will be launched.
As of 16 December, clients of old people’s homes and homes providing special treatment will be able to leave the building or grounds of the facility in which they receive social services.
As of 18 December, adjustments have also been made to measures limiting the entry of foreign nationals to the Czech Republic.
On Friday 18th December the Czech Republic will return to the 4th tier of the pandemic response system.
As of 18 December, there will be a re-imposition of the ban on free movement of persons under the daytime rules up to 11 pm and at night until 5 am.
As of 18 December, bars and restaurants, zoos, museums and swimming pools and other indoor sports facilities will be closed.
As of 18 December, all shops and services will remain open provided that they ensure that there will only be one customer per 15 square metres in the establishment. Unlike in the past, there will be no Sunday trading ban.
As of 21 December, there will be changes in Czech schools, with restrictions on the operation of universities and student accommodation.
On December 21 and 22, all children attending elementary and secondary schools, conservatories, higher vocational schools, elementary art schools, language schools etc. will be off school, with two days added to their Christmas holiday.
The state of emergency will now be in effect until 22 January 2021.
All crisis measures are now valid until 26 December 2020.
As of 27 December, the night curfew, which will now start at 9 pm, has been extended again. All shops and services will have to close at this time. Only defined basic types of retail goods and services will be allowed.
As of 27 December, the ban will also apply to ski lifts and public cable cars used to access ski slopes.
As of 27 December, public gatherings will be limited to two people. A maximum of fifteen people will be able to attend weddings, funerals and entry into a registered partnership.
For church and religious gatherings, the permitted capacity in churches and prayer rooms has been reduced to a maximum of ten percent of the seating capacity.
As of 27 December, schools will also return to a stricter regime. Only kindergartens and the first and second years of elementary schools will be able to operate.
As of 27 December, regional governors and the Mayor of Prague have to provide essential care for children aged 3 to 10 whose legal guardians work in fields important for the operation of the state.
As of 27 December, the operation of authorities and institutions and office hours for the public will once more be limited to the necessary minimum.
Current measure banning flights between Great Britain and the Czech Republic has been modified. As of 23 December from 12.00 hours, a negative antigen or RT-PCR test is needed when travelling from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
All emergency measures will be extended until 22 January. It includes restriction of free movement, restriction of sales and provision of services, restriction of the operations of public administration and implementation of emergency measures ensuring childcare for employees of certain professions.
As of 11 January it is also possible to arrange individual consultations even in the case of university students, hold university entrance exams in groups of no more than ten people and hold higher vocational school entrance exams also in groups of no more than ten people.
Possibility for clients of health insurance providers to be tested for coronavirus with an antigen POC test free of charge been extended until further notice.
There is also new emergency measures regulating visits to healthcare facilities and social care facilities. The changes apply to acute in-hospital care, where it will now be possible to visit a patient in a hospital provided that at least FFP2 or KN95 class respirators are used (this does not apply to children up to two years old; a simple face mask is sufficient for children up to 15 years old). This measure applies until 22 January.
As of 12 January, there is a change at the situation in funeral services. It is prohibited to cremate the bodies of persons who have died outside of the Czech Republic that were neither citizens of the Czech Republic nor had permanent residence within the Czech Republic.
As of 19 January, there are minor adjustments to the currently valid rules. The most important change is the opening of retail shops with stationery, children’s clothing and children’s footwear. Vocational training and the acquisition of specific professional qualifications will also be permitted for selected professions.
As of 19 January, measure allowing an initial medical examination and proof of ownership of a health certificate when commencing employment to be replaced with a sworn statement is approved.
The state of emergency in the Czech Republic will now apply until 14 February.
Valid crisis measures are also extended until 14 February.
As of 23 January, childcare facilities for children up to three may now run on a daily basis. This measure is also to be in place until 14 February.
As of 30 January, there is a change concerning rules on the free movement of persons. people must limit contacts with non-household members to what is strictly necessary.
As of 30 January, it would be possible to provide accommodation only to persons who can prove it with a document about the purpose of the business trip from the employer or the customer of the services.
Sales of goods in markets, marketplaces and mobile establishments have been completely excluded from the exceptions still in force.
Only the operation of those mobile stores that sell food and cosmetics, toiletries and household products in municipalities where it is not possible to purchase these goods in another establishment remains allowed.
The rules for the operation of cableways and ski lifts are also being tightened. Newly, the operation of cableways will be permitted only for ensuring supply or operation of critical infrastructure or for the needs of IRS.
As of 30 January, visits in healthcare facilities in acute care wards are also banned again. Exceptions are during childbirth, for pacients with limited legal capacit and visits to patients in terminal stage of an incurable disease and hospice patients.
Changes are also in the rules for general antigen testing. With immediate effect, the interval between tests fully covered by health insurance is reduced from five to three days.
As of 15 February, a new state of emergency is declared. It will last for 14 days until 28 February.
As of 15 February, restrictions on the business hours of public authorities and administrative bodies are revoked.
As of 27 February, new state of emergency applies in the Czech republic. It will last until 28 March.
As of 27 February, existing crisis measures has been re-confirmed and extraordinary measures from Ministry of Health has been extended.
As of 1 March, in the built-up area of a municipality, it will be mandatory to wear everywhere outside as a minimum a surgical mask, respirator or other similarly effective item of protective equipment meeting the relevant standard.
As of 1 Match, in the most high-risk places, such as shops or public transport, it will no longer be possible to replace the respirator with a double surgical mask.
As of 1 March, the exception for employees is cancelled. They will only be able to take off protective equipment if they are alone in the workplace.
As of 1 March, employers must equip those employees who come into contact with other people with a sufficient number of items of protective equipment for each shift.
As of 1 March, it will be forbidden to leave the district, or the City of Prague, in which the person in question has permanent residence or domicile, without good reason, such as travel to work or to a doctor.
As of 1 March, if people own a holiday home, they may go to it until the entry into force of the regulation, but it then will be considered as their place of residence for the duration of the measure. In the event of an inspection, everyone must be able to justify travel outside their own district either by affidavit or by an appropriate confirmation.
As of 1 March, only necessary trips, such as shopping, trips to the countryside and sports activities, will be allowed, but only under the condition of the presence together of just the members of a single household, in the municipality in which those persons have permanent residence or domicile.
As of 1 March, the number of of exemptions from the ban on the presence of the public in work premises is reduced. Exceptions no longer include, for example, laundries and dry cleaners, car repair shops and spare parts shops, textile material and textile haberdashery shops, locksmiths, stationery shops and shops with weapons and ammunition.
As of 1 March, day care for children under the age of three will also have to close down, with the exception of a children’s group at a medical or social services facility.
As of 1 March, full-time school attendance will be suspended for pupils in the 1st and 2nd years of primary schools, including preparatory levels, special schools and one- and two-year practical schools. Kindergartens are also closed.
As of 1 March, primary schools, kindergartens and children´s groups at medical facilities or at institutions for instituonal or protective education remain open. Regulation requiring regional governor and mayor of Prague to provide childcare for employees of critical infrastructure and integrated rescue system is still in force.
As of 2 March, driving school exams will be banned, and employees will be banned from eating directly at a personnel catering establishment.
As of 3 March, employers are required to ensure antigen test for their employees that will be performed either by healthcare professionals or directly by the person being tested.
As of 3 March, employees will once again be able to use company canteens for direct consumption of food. However, only one diner may be seated at one table, and if it is a long table, there must be at least a two-metre gap between the diners or a mechanical obstacle preventing the spread of droplets.
As of 3 March, there is an adjustment to the length of the ordered quarantine for persons living in the same household with a person infected with SARS CoV-2 coronavirus where conditions for the isolation of the infected person from other household members cannot be met. In this case, the length of the quarantine is reduced from 21 days to 14 days.
As of 4 March, attendance of meetings is added to the daytime curfew, and it is specified that persons attending such meetings must wear a respirator or a surgical face mask or a similarly effective certified respiratory protective device.
As of 5 March, employers must invite their employees to undergo the test, and from 12 March 2021, they must not allow employees who have not been tested in the past seven days access to the workplace. In the case of smaller companies, i.e. from 50 to 249 persons, the deadlines are postponed to March 5, 8 and 15, respectively.
As of 20 March, people who can prove that either they have undergone the Covid-19 disease in the last 90 days or have been completely vaccinated for more than 14 days will be exempt from the obligation to submit a valid negative test for Covid-19 when visiting patients in health-care facilities.
As of 20 March, the same rule will also apply for the exception from the mandatory quarantine for clients of social service facilities who have gone on leave outside of the complex or are accommodated in them.
As of 22 March, people can now go on trips to nature or to exercise on the territory of the entire district. Now an exception to the ban on leaving the district will also apply to parents for contact with their minor children or visits of close persons for children in foster families or institutional or protective care.
Measure ordering the wearing of protective respiratory coverings makes a change for officials and employees of the basic units of the integrated rescue system, which will also be able to use a mask or half-mask fulfilling all the technical conditions and requirements.
As of 30 March, there is also an expansion of mandatory testing of employees. The ban on the presence of untested employees will also apply to workplaces of public employers who employ less than 50 people. Testing of employees has to start no later than 23 March.
As of 21April, the activity of children’s groups will be permitted in the Karlovy Vary and the Hradec Králové Regions. In the other regions, it will be permitted only for children who reached five years of age by 31 August 2020, or for providing childcare services to parents of selected professions and employers.
As of 21 April, the measure ordering the wearing of breathing protection will be specified so that participants in entrance examinations for secondary schools will be able to use a medical mask or a certified protective equipment instead of a respirator.
As of 24 April, across-the-board testing will be launched at higher education institutions, under conditions similar to those in the other segments with generally ordered testing. Exemptions apply to completely vaccinated persons and persons who recovered from COVID-19 in the last 90 days.
As of 26 April, secondary school pupils will be able to attend practical training. Students of the last grades of higher education institutions will be allowed to start practical and clinical instruction. From the same date, further children will return to nursery schools in the Karlovy Vary and the Hradec Králové Regions.
As of 26 April, kindergartens and children’s groups will open in the Plzeň region.
As of 3 May, Body care services and animal care services will be permitted under the condition that each staff member cares for one client at a time, clients keep at least two-meter distance from each other and every client shows a valid negative COVID-19 test result, or a proof of completed vaccination or of recovery from COVID-19 within the last 90 days.
As of 3 May, in the Hradec Králové, the Plzeň, the Karlovy Vary, the Pardubice, the Liberec, the Central Bohemian Regions and Prague, individual tours will be permitted in museums, galleries, castles, chateaux and other historic or cultural structures. Their visitors will be obligated to use respirators.
As of 3 May, pupils in the Hradec Králové, the Plzeň, the Karlovy Vary, the Pardubice, the Liberec, the Central Bohemian Regions and Prague will be able to attend in-person instruction in the lower level of six-year and eight-year grammar schools, in the first four years of the eight-year conservatory education programme and in the upper primary schools, under the condition of rotating presence of classes.
As of 3 May, rules for testing school and school facilities staff will be relaxed so that preventive testing will be carried out only once a week. Also, those students who already go to school regularly will have to be tested only once a week. Newly returning school years will remain in the regime of two tests per week.
As of 4 May, children from the Karlovy Vary, Hradec Králové, Liberec, Pardubice, Plzeň and Central Bohemia Regions and the capital city of Prague will be able to attend group consultations or classes indoors or outdoors at basic art schools and leisure time centres.
As of 10 May, all retailers will be able to open, the reduction of a range of products and markets will also end, the range of services will be significantly expanded, and cable cars will be able to start too.
As of 10 May, other groups of pupils and students will return to schools for full-time classes.
As of 10 May, it will no longer be mandatory to wear outdoor protection where it will be possible to keep the maximum number of two people on less than two meters.
As of 17 May, restaurants are allowed to open their outdoor seating, provided the set rules are observed. The seating capacity at tables is restricted and all customers must demonstrate a COVID-19 negative test, vaccination or recovery within the last 90 days.
As of 17 May, meals and drinks may be consumed in marketplaces.
As of 17 May, first cultural events are launched, outdoor ones for up to 700 seated spectators, at maximum filling 50 percent of the auditorium capacity, and even those have to demonstrate a COVID-19 negative test, vaccination or recovery, and have to wear a breathing protection during the performance.
As of 17 May, zoos or botanical gardens can raise their capacity to a half of the maximum number of visitors.
As of 17 May, restrictions on club, sports, dance and other organised events has been partially lifted, enabling them to be attended by up to fifty persons outdoors or ten indoors, under the usual anti-epidemic conditions.
As of 17 May, the ban on visits in acute health care facilities is cancelled. The visitors are subject to the same rules that apply to visitors in long-term care facilities or in hospices.
As of 17 May, the weekly rotating in-person attendance ended for the lower primary schools. The rotating attendance is cancelled for upper primary schools and lower levels of multi-year grammar schools and conservatories in the Karlovy Vary, Hradec Králové, Liberec, Pardubice, Plzeň and Central Bohemian Regions and the City of Prague.
As of 18 May, the use of breathing protection is modified. The exceptions will newly include sportspeople and exercising persons during their training, exercise, match, competition etc. including running and cycling, as well as customers of services providing care on the head and neck where the protective mask would prevent the use of that service.
As of 24 May, in-person learning will be reopened for higher education students in theoretical subjects and for all remaining secondary school students. The weekly rotation of classes will end where it has been ordered up to now.
As of 24 May, the limits for the number of persons will increase in leisure learning centres, hobby education facilities for children, at cultural, sports and club events indoors and outdoors, at congresses or on sports grounds.
As of 24 May, the limits will be cancelled for entry in indoor pavilions of zoos or botanical gardens for individual tours, there will only be the limitation of letting in only 50 percent of the visitor capacity, 15 m² of indoor area per person and two-metre distancing.
As of 24 May, the restriction on accommodating guests in hotels and guest houses will be lifted.
As of 31 May, it will be possible to renew countryside learning stays of schools. the school has to notify the public health authority of the countryside stay, including the address and contact details of the responsible person on the site, and all participants must produce a valid COVID-19 negative test, certification of recovery from the disease or certificate of complete vaccination.
As of 24 May, the protection period of persons recovered from COVID-19 is extended from 90 to 180 days and may be used in situations where it is required as one of the alternatives enabling an entry or provision of service. Also the first dose of vaccine received at least 22 days prior will be accepted.
As of 8 June, the conditions for entry into establishments providing services and into sports or cultural institutions will be levelled out. Visitors will be allowed to produce all possible forms of proof of being COVID-19 negative, including a self-test carried out directly on the spot. Maximum 1,000 people inside or 2,000 outside are allowed.
As of 8 June, pupils, students and teachers no longer have to use protective devices while seated during lessons or lectures. The same exception applies to employees at their workplace, if they are exclusively in the presence of their co-worker. The rules for wearing breathing protection are eased in all regions except for the South Bohemian, Liberec and Zlín Regions.
As of 8 June, the conditions are modified for visits to health facilities and social care facilities: the validity of PCR tests is extended to seven days, and that of POC antigen tests to 72 hours, and tests performed by employers or schools will be recognised too.
As of 15 June, stricter rules for wearing respiratory protection in schools and workplaces in the South Bohemia, Liberec and Zlín regions are abolished.
As of 1 July, maximum number of customers per establishment, or in zoos, museums and castles will increase. Limit of the permitted capacity of swimming pools, spas and saunas will be increased to 75 per cent off the capacity.
As of 1 July, the obligation for hairdressers and pedicurists to serve in a one-on-one mode and keep a register of customers will end.
As of 1 July, the maximum number of persons allowed at leisure events for children and young people and for the organisation of social, dance, cultural or sporting events will be increased to 500 indoors and 1,000 outdoors.
As of 1 July, the number of spectators allowed at concerts and other cultural, sporting and educational events will also be increased to 5,000 outside and 2,000 inside, and standing spectators will be allowed on the condition of one spectator per four metres of standing area.
As of 9 July, the recognition of infection-free status after the first dose of a two-dose vaccine will no longer apply in the Czech Republic. Person will be considered infection-free only 14 days after their completed vaccination.
As of 9 July, the rules for entering the Czech Republic will be tightened. Travellers low-risk countries will now have to fill in an arrival form and, if they are not 14 days after their completed vaccination, they will also have to prove themselves with a negative RT-PCR test. For countries with a low and medium risk of infection, it will be possible to replace the pre-entry test with a test taken within five days of their return.
As of 9 July, unvaccinated persons returning from abroad will now be barred from entering their workplace without proving a negative test to their employer. It will be possible to go to work after returning from low- and medium-risk countries until a negative test is proven, but these employees will be required to wear at least FFP2 respirators at work.
As of 9 July, in countries with a low and medium risk of infection, it will be possible to replace the test before entering the Czech Republic with a test taken within five days of return.
At the same time, for unvaccinated persons, when returning from abroad, it will now be the case that employers will not be able to be admitted to the workplace without proving a negative test. In the case of return from low- and medium-risk countries, it will be possible to attend employment until proven by a negative test, but these employees will be required to wear at least FFP2 respirators in the workplace.
As of 15 July, the interval between the two doses of Pfizer/BioNTech’s Comirnaty vaccine will be reduced from the current 38–42 days to 21–23 days after the first dose.
Up to 22 July, organisers of mass events with an expected attendance of more than 1,000 people have to notify the relevant regional hygiene station of the event without delay.
As of 23 July, organisers of mass events have to notify the relevant regional hygiene station no later than 5 days before the start of the event.
As of 15 November, the rules for visits to health and social care facilities will be tightened by reducing the validity periods to the mandatory 72 hours for PCR and 24 hours for RAT tests, while the option to self-test on entry will remain.
As of 22 November, the emergency measures restricting retail and service operations will also change. The measure adds rules for ski resorts and ski lifts, where operators will have to check the validity of ONT (vaccination – past disease – test) when selling tickets and ski passes and then at least randomly at the lifts and ski lifts.
As of 22 November, the conditions for organising mass events will also change. A major change is that in cultural, artistic and sporting events with an attendance of over 1,000 spectators the antigen tests will no longer be recognised, and that a uniform limit of 1,000 people for indoor and outdoor events is set for social and similar public events.
A 30-day state of emergency was declared as of 26 November.
As of 26 November, catering establishments, bars, discos, casinos, etc., which will have to be newly closed between 10:00 pm and 04:59 am.
As of 26 November, the operation of Christmas markets will be prohibited, with the exception of the sale of Christmas trees and carp and in shopping centres it will not be possible to eat directly in food courts.
As of 26 November, with the exception of funerals, the maximum number of people allowed at leisure, cultural, sports, educational and other similar events will also be limited.
For leisure activities for children and adults, such as various club, sports, cultural, dance, traditional and similar events and celebrations, the maximum number of participants is reduced from one thousand to 100 people.
For visits to cultural performances, sports matches, etc., it will be possible to let a maximum of 1,000 spectators enter the auditorium, exclusively for sitting.
As of 26 November, there is ordered the work duty of doctors and healthcare professionals who practice a non-medical healthcare profession as outpatient specialists, day care or inpatient care physicians in facilities that do not care for patients with covid-19.
As of 29 November, the rules for visits to reception and accommodation centers are the same as for prisons or detention facilities. The visit will therefore have to be demonstrated by meeting the O-T-N conditions, while a valid RT-PCR test will be recognized. The same exceptions to this obligation apply, ie for children under 12, lawyers or officials.
The current government regulation, which allows the help of Czech Army soldiers in managing the covid-19 epidemic in medical facilities, social care facilities and vaccination centers ibeen extended until 30 June 2022.
As of 14 December, the rule on the use of respiratory protection when using cable cars is clarified so that the obligation to use a respirator will only apply to enclosed cabins.
As of 14 December, the rules for PCR testing of pupils and staff in schools will be specified.
As of 20 December, the rules of further procedure will be changed in the case of a positive case in the area testing of employees and self-employed persons.
As of 30 December, in retail and services, the rule on compulsory establishment and customer separation and the rule that it is not possible to let more people into the establishment than there are seats inside the seat are abolished for music and dance clubs and discos.
As of 30 December, catering services, music, dance, gaming and similar social clubs and discos, casinos and casinos are also abolished by the operator’s obligation to actively prevent the gathering of persons at a distance of less than 1.5 meters from each other on the outside and inside of the establishment.
As of 3 January 2022, this measure will be amended so that the abolition of the obligation to actively prevent the gathering of people will also affect other establishments and services where it is still required, such as markets, swimming pools or cable cars.
As of 3 January, wherever customers and clients are required to provide proof of vaccination or illness, it will introduce an obligation for operators to check the validity of certificates through the mobile application of the Ministry of Health čTečka.
As of 3 January, the rules of how schools, their employees or pupils should proceed in the event of a positive test case are changed.
As of 3 January, testing in schools will take place on Mondays and Thursdays.
As of 4 January, all persons over the age of 18 who have had at least 5 months of completed vaccination will be able to register for the third dose.
As of 11 January, the ordered isolation and quarantine will be reduced to at least five calendar days. To terminate the quarantine or isolation, the RT-PCR test will not be necessary, but persons with a positive antigen test result will be able to end their isolation immediately after receiving a negative result of a subsequent RT-PCR test.
As of 11 January, people with COVID-19 symptoms will have to extend their five-day isolation and wait at least two days after the symptoms fade out. After a risk contact, quarantine will be ordered also to COVD-19 vaccinated and recovered persons.
As of 17 January, testing will take place again only once a week, the first day of attendance. Testing will now also cover school staff and the exemption for vaccinated or covid-19 people will no longer apply.
As of 17 January, all employees in both the public and the private sectors, as well as self-employed persons and agents of legal entities, if they come into contact with people outside their households, will have to get tested at their workplace twice a week.
As of 31 January, the rules for testing employees, the self-employed and members of corporate bodies will change so that everyone who has had a positive RT-PCR test in the last 30 days and has ended up in isolation will have an exemption from testing.
As of 31 January, the students of higher vocational schools will also be involved in the testing.
From 27 January to 13 February, visits to prison, pre-trial detention facilities and detention facilities will be banned with precisely specified exceptions.
As of 10 February, restrictions and conditions on trade, services and leisure activities will be lifted. Only the number of people at mass events will continue to be regulated.
Until 19 February, the limits will remain at the current levels, i.e. a maximum of 1,000 seated spectators or guests at cultural performances, sporting events or congresses, and a maximum of 100 people at other mass events and leisure activities for children and young people.
As of 15 February, the validity of certificates of completed vaccination for persons over 18 years of age to a maximum of 270 days will apply in the Czech Republic.
As of 19 February, a limit of 500 spectators will apply where there is no seating, and auditoriums with a capacity of over 1,000 seats will be able to fill up to 50 per cent of the seating capacity above the 1,000-seat limit.
As of 19 February, the conditions for testing employees in health and social services are also modified by narrowing the scope of the emergency measure from all providers of health and social services to providers of overnight and inpatient care and providers of social services in facilities of homes for persons with disabilities, homes for the elderly or homes with special regimes, providers of social services providing respite services in residential form and providers of social services in weekly residential or sheltered housing facilities, and the possibility of using so-called work quarantine is abolished.

Measures concerning foreigners and border crossing

As of 14 March, temporary reintroduction of internal borders with Germany and Austria – lasting until 24 April 2020 with a possible extension. Border crossing possible only at a limited selection of 11 land borders as well as Prague International Airport and Prague-Kbely airport. Additional 8 border crossings available for verified cross-border commuters. The land borders with Slovakia (from 13 March) and Poland (from 15 March) were closed by those countries’ governments.
As of 16 March, until 12 April, access to the Czech Republic is barred for all foreign nationals, with the exception of foreign nationals with permanent residence or temporary residence of over 90 days and foreign nationals whose entry is in the interests of the Czech Republic.
Anyone returning to the Czech Republic must undergo a mandatory 2 weeks’ quarantine.
CZ citizens are forbidden to leave the country (with certain exceptions e.g. cross-border workers).
Foreign nationals with permanent residence or temporary residence of over 90 days may leave the country without right of return for the duration of the state of emergency.
The granting of visas and temporary residence permits exceeding 90 days and the relevant procedures at CZ consular offices have been suspended with the exception of foreign nationals whose visa applications are in the interest of the Czech Republic.
Citizens already legally present in the Czech Republic are allowed to stay for the duration of the state of emergency.
As of 21 March, all cross-border workers must submit proof of foreign employment as well as all relevant documentation when crossing the national border. Documentation will be stamped on crossing.
International air travel, rail travel, coach travel, boat travel and road travel for more than 9 persons is suspended.
A new measure adopted due to problems with cross-border workers. When returning to the Czech Republic, the latter will automatically have to submit to a fourteen-day quarantine. In practice, this will mean that if a cross-border worker does not want to be exposed to the risk of quarantine, he/she will be forced to find temporary accommodation at his place of work for the necessary period. As of 26 March, the measure concerning cross-border workers has been modified. They are now divided into different categories according to the border crossing point and the type of work carried out abroad. For example, a cross-border worker passbook is not required, and no quarantine is required upon return for medical personnel.
As of 14 April, travelling abroad for „essential activities“ will be allowed. This will include business trips, the assembly of a production facility, a visit to a doctor or to a relative. Each trip will be followed by 14 days of obligatory quarantine on return.
Third-country doctors without the necessary examinations will be allowed to work in Czech hospitals. This measure is valid for the duration of the state of emergency and three months thereafter.
As of Monday April 27, the rules for crossing state borders have been changed. EU citizens arriving in the Czech Republic for business purposes and university students from EU countries may now come to the Czech Republic. Czech citizens are able to travel abroad, however on their return they must submit to 14 days’ quarantine or provide a test with a negative Covid-19 result.
A new crisis measure allowing experts and other key employees from the Republic of Korea to come to the Czech Republic for the needs of Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Czech in Nošovice, has been approved. This concerns a total of 786 professionals, whose stay in the Czech Republic will be subject to strict hygiene measures.
A partial adjustment of the rules for crossing the borders of the Czech Republic for cross-border workers from 1 May 2020 has been adopted. A test for covid-19 with a negative result every 30 days will be sufficient for them from now on. If they are unable to submit a negative test, they will have the opportunity to submit it back to the relevant regional hygienic station within 72 hours.
As of Monday 11 May, cross-border public transportation is allowed again with the exception of air traffic, which still remains limited.
As of Monday 11 May, the current rules for border crossing will be relaxed. All citizens will be able to cross the state border at selected border crossings, which were previously used only by commuters. Railway corridors to Germany and Austria will also be functional.
The rules for the entry of foreigners into the Czech Republic will be relaxed. Seasonal employees or holders of long-term visas will now be able to entry the Czech Republic. Each person will have to submit a negative test upon arrival.
As of 26 May, the regime at the state borders will be eased. EU citizens and foreigners with the status of a long-term resident in EU Member State will be able to enter the Czech Republic in order to perform economic activities, to visit relatives or to study at a university. Everyone will have to prove themselves with a negative test for covid-19 upon entry.
All border crossings with Germany and Austria are reopened. The Brno-Tuřany, Karlovy Vary, Ostrava-Mošnov and Pardubice airports are also reopened. At the same time, only random border controls will be carried out and all border crossings can be used again 24 hours a day.
A measure of the Minister of Health, which will dramatically ease the current regime for travels to and from abroad, has been noted by the Government. The EU member states, and other states of the Schengen area are divided into three categories (according to the level of risk of COVID-19 disease). Czechs and foreigners with a long-term stay in the Czech Republic will be able to travel to countries of all categories after this date and will not have to prove themselves with a negative test for coronavirus after returning from countries with low and medium risk. Foreigners arriving from medium and high-risk countries will then have to prove themselves with a negative test upon arrival (in case of absence of a negative test, these foreigners will be submitted into quarantine).
List of countries:
- Low risk: Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Croatia, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Cyprus, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland (most territories), Austria, Romania, Greece, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland;
- Medium risk: United Kingdom;
- High risk: Portugal, Poland – Silesian Voivodeship, Sweden.
- updated list of European countries according to the level of risk on Ministry of Health website
As of 5 June, all border controls on borders with Austria and Germany end at 12:00 pm. At the same time, the Czechs are no longer obliged to prove themselves after returning home from Slovakia, Hungary, Germany and Austria by a negative test for covid-19 or to go to quarantine. Despite opened borders with Germany, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned that this is still only a unilateral step of the Czech government, and therefore it will still be necessary to follow the current conditions that apply in Germany.
As of 15 June:
- the measure regarding the restriction of crossing the state border of the Czech Republic extends the exemptions to all qualified workers falling under the Highly Qualified Employee Program or Key Scientific Staff Program (a negative covid test must be submitted upon entry),
- it is possible to organize mass events for a maximum of 2,500 people. The area in which the event takes place must be structurally divided into individual sectors (in each of the maximum number of 5 such sectors there may be a maximum of 500 people),
- the obligation to wear a protective mask while being outdoors applies only at mass events where people come into contact at a distance of less than 1.5 meters,
- it is possible to organize mass events for a maximum of 2,500 people. The area in which the event takes place must be structurally divided into individual sectors (in each of the maximum number of 5 such sectors there may be a maximum of 500 people),
- the obligation to wear a protective mask while being outdoors applies only at mass events where people come into contact at a distance of less than 1.5 meters,
- it is possible to sell food for immediate consumption on farmers‘ markets,
- barbers / hairdressers do not have to keep a two-meter distance from customers and other barbers / hairdressers,
- the operation of steam saunas is possible and during sauna ceremonials it is not necessary to maintain larger distances than specified by regular hygienic standards,
- restaurants can serve buffet meals,
- aquatic centres can run attractions with the creation of waves and flowing water,
- and finally, theatres and cinemas can re-start selling food and drinks however, these cannot be consumed in the auditorium during performances.
The validity of residence permits in the Czech Republic on the basis of short-term work or seasonal visas and work permits for foreigners from third countries has been extended until 16 September 2020. The reason for further extension of work permits and visas of foreigners from third countries, is the worsened epidemiological situation in their countries of origin, e.g. Ukraine, where there is still a large incidence of new cases of covid-19 and at the same time these employees are very important for Czech employers.
Foreigners with employment contracts expiring between 12 March and 16 November 2020 may continue to work in the Czech Republic until 16 November 2020. After that, however, holders of short-term visas and visas for 90+ days for work or seasonal purposes must exit the Czech Republic.
Before entering the Czech Republic individuals who spent longer than 12 hours in the last 14 days in a state not on the list of countries with a low risk of infection must complete the form at www.prijezdovyformular.cz. The obligation to complete this form applies to travellers coming to the Czech Republic as of Monday, 21 September 2020.
Starting on 5 February, changes will be made mainly to the compulsory testing of persons who arrive in the Czech Republic as part of permitted exemptions from the ban on entry from countries with a COVID-19 risk.
As of 5 February, persons from countries with a medium risk will have to document a negative result of an antigen or PCR test. Persons from countries with a high or very high risk will have to undergo another PCR test at their expense within a set time period after entering the Czech territory. Persons from high risk countries will have to spend at least five days in quarantine before being tested.
All residents of the Czech Republic returning from a stay in South Africa and other countries in the region will have to go into isolation for at least ten days after returning.
The measure concerns people who have stayed for more than 12 hours in the last 14 days in South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini / Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia or Mozambique. In such a case, third-country nationals without a residence permit of more than 90 days in the territory of the Czech Republic issued by the Czech Republic are prohibited from entering the Czech Republic.
People returning to the Czech Republic from these countries must submit a valid negative RT-PCR test before entering the Czech Republic and prove that they have a reservation for another RT-PCR test, which they must undergo within 24 hours of entering the Czech Republic. . The next RT-PCR test must then be performed no earlier than the tenth and no later than the fourteenth day after return.

Economic measures

An amendment to the Act on the Czech National Bank (CNB), easing the existing restrictions on open market transactions, has been approved. Thanks to the amendment, the CNB can now trade instruments with maturities of more than one year. In addition, the CNB can from now on trade with other entities, for example, with insurance and pension companies or with other institutional investors (normally the CNB may trade only with banks and credit unions). All of this has been carried out within the framework of the ECB rules; the aim of this amendment is to strengthen the stability of the Czech financial market.
As of 17 March, the Czech National Bank (CNB) has reduced the two-week repo rate by 50 basis points to 1.75 %, the Lombard rate to 2.75 % and the discount rate to 0.75 %. From 18 March, delivery repo operations will be announced three times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). The CNB has revised the countercyclical capital buffer for exposures located in the Czech Republic to 1.75 %.
Extension of the deadline for the filing of tax returns until 1 July (normal deadline: 31 March) and remission of any fines stemming from the late submission of tax declarations or reports.
To support employment, the state will provide 100 billion CZK in direct support and 900 billion CZK indirectly in the form of guarantees.
Adoption of so-called Liberation packages. Liberation Package I – state will not impose fines for late submission of personal and corporate income tax returns, for late payment of a tax claim and for late submission of control tax reports.
Liberation Package II – remission of the June advance on personal and corporate income tax, the state will not impose fines for late submission of real estate property tax return, introduction of Loss carry back and suspension of the obligation to electronically record sales for entities in all phases of EET (during the state of emergency and three months thereafter). Liberation packages have been extended to defer payment of road tax due in April and July to 15 October and to include a proposal for VAT exemption from goods that are supplied free of charge (e.g. Covid-19 test kits, protective clothing, other medical supplies, etc.).
Liberation Package III – comes with, for example, a remission of a fine for late tax returns, interest on arrears and interest on arrears of property tax until 30 November 2020, remission of value added tax on gratuitous delivery of basic protective equipment and other goods by 30 July 2020 and remission of additional sanctions and administrative fees for late tax documents filling.
Adoption of a company support programme called “Antivirus” – a final version of the Antivirus employment protection programme, in which the state will contribute to employers‘ salaries. Companies have to fulfil several conditions, for example they must strictly follow the Labour Code, employees must not be in their probationary period and the employer must pay wages and make all legal deductions. They also have to prove that any liquidity problems are connected to the COVID-19 pandemic. The amount of state compensation paid to employers is derived from the average super-gross wage, including mandatory contributions (48,400 CZK), and depends on the reasons why they had to put employees on “a barrier to work”. Employers will be able to apply through Labour Office for a contribution in two schemes. The programme has now been extended until 31 August. More information here.
All waves of the Electronic Sales Control System (EET) will be postponed until the end of 2020.
Proposal to postpone the launch of the final phase of the Electronic Sales Control System (EET) until 3 months after the end of the state of emergency.
The state will help self-employed persons who are taking care of a child from 6 to 13 years of age and are not able to go to work due to the coronavirus, to the value of 500 CZK per day. All self-employed, who have income only from their business, will be given six-month holidays on the payment of health and social insurance. These holidays cover the amount of the minimum insurance premium, i.e. 4986 CZK.
An amendment to the State Budget Act for 2020 has been approved. The state budget deficit (already increased twice) will be increased by another 200 billion CZK to the amount of 500 CZK (the original draft budget assumed a deficit of 40 billion CZK).
The Government has released 3.3 billion CZK for the 2020 Rural Development Program. This funding should help entrepreneurs in agriculture, food and forestry while fighting coronavirus crisis. The main reason for this support is to secure Czech food self-sufficiency.
3 billion CZK will be released from the government budget reserve to ensure the operational purchase of necessary protective equipment and other equipment and 4.316 billion CZK to cover costs incurred by the Ministry of the Interior for the centralised purchase of protective equipment.
The preparation of state orders for transport infrastructure – for maintenance, repairs or new investments has been approved. Through the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure, the state will spend 6.5 billion CZK in excess of the current budget. The contractual deadlines for these contracts were also extended.
Compensation Bonus, which will directly support self-employed persons to the amount of 25,000 CZK. This will be paid if the following conditions are met:
a) a self-employed person under the definition of to the Pensions Insurance Act,
b) the activity performed is the principal activity (under clearly defined conditions it may also be an ancillary activity),
c) the decrease in gross sales during the period from January to March 2020 was at least 10% compared to the period from January to March 2019 (if a business was set up after January 2019, the comparison counts the first 3 months period after setting up the business),
d) the entity achieved at least 180,000 CZK of gross income in 2019 or at least 15,000 CZK/month in the case of a business set up after January 2019.
An amendment to the Act on the Coronavirus Compensation Bonus has been approved. This enables the reimbursement of 500 CZK per day to self-employed persons until 8 June, when the end of all restrictions is expected.
A moratorium proposal on the repayment of loans and mortgages signed before 26 March 2020, which will be binding on all banks and non-banking companies, has been adopted. Both natural persons and corporate debtors will be able to suspend their repayments for three or six months, as they choose. The debtor must notify this intention to the creditor by declaration that he/she/it is taking this action because of the negative economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. However, he/she/it will not have to provide proof of this.
Companies which were forced to close their premises due to government orders, will be entitled to defer their rents. The deferral will apply from 12 March to 30 June and deferred payments will have to be paid back within 2 years. Also, a ban has been adopted on terminating the rental contracts of people who are not able to pay rent due to financial distress caused by Covid-19 epidemic.
To reduce the impact of the economic downturn, a proposal to create a financial reserve of 4% of GDP for 2021 and then consolidate public finances in the following years, has been approved. The European Commission has enabled Member States to temporarily ease fiscal rules by activating the so-called “escape clause”.
A bill to mitigate the impact of the crisis in the tourism sector, which aims to help travel agencies, who are threatened with bankruptcy, has been approved. The bill proposes a year’s transition period for reimbursement of holidays already paid for, during which the travel agency will offer its clients a voucher for a package tour of the value of the package tour for which they originally paid. The travel agency will only have to return money in the event that the client fails to make use of the voucher within 12 months. Such vouchers can also be used by organisers of cultural events.
A cultural package worth more than 1 billion CZK has been adopted. The independent arts segment will receive 440 million CZK, 300 million CZK will go to regional culture support and subsidised organisations in the sector will receive 300 million CZK.
An amendment to the Excise Tax Act has been approved. By extending the storage period for unit packs of cigarettes, the proposal intends to maintain a smooth transition to the new tax rate, even with the difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
A bill on the public health insurance premium transfers has been approved. The government will increase the payment for each person insured by state by 500 CZK per month from 1 June 2020 and by another 200 CZK per month from 1 January 2021.
A bill on certain measures to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus epidemic on sport has been adopted. The proposal provides for an extension of the powers of the National Sports Agency, to encompass preparation of relevant grant programmes.
A proposal for an extraordinary contribution of 4 billion CZK to the Export Guarantee and Insurance Company (EGAP) fund has been approved. The money is intended to cover liabilities from guarantees that EGAP will provide primarily for loans to large companies.
A proposal has been approved from the Ministry of Health for debt relief for selected state-run hospitals that are in long-term financial difficulties and for whom the crisis around the spread of the coronavirus has made their situation even worse. Almost 6.6 billion CZK will be allocated from the government’s budget reserve.
A bill on the abolition of Real estate acquisition tax, has been adopted with retroactive effect. Anyone who acquired the property in December 2019 at the latest will be exempted from the obligation to pay the tax. Already paid taxes will be refunded.
The budget strategy of public institutions of the Czech Republic for the period from 2021 to 2023 and the related convergence program of the Czech Republic, which will be submitted to the European Commission and the Council of the EU, have been adopted. It is expected that in 2021 state budget expenditures will reach CZK 1,792 billion, in 2022 CZK 1,811 billion and in 2023 CZK 1,825 billion. The structural balance should thus reach minus 4 percent of GDP in 2021.
A draft amendment to the Compensation Bonus Act has been adopted. It anticipates that, under certain conditions (maximum 2 partners and not profiting from another form of state financial aid), owners of small limited liability companies could also benefit from the compensation bonus. The amendment proposes a compensation of CZK 500 per day for the period from March 12 to June 8.
A bill to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus epidemic in the area of protection of employees in case of the insolvency of the employer has been adopted. Thanks to this bill, the employees of the insolvent employer will be satisfied by partial wage claims from the Labour Office of the Czech Republic.
A subsidy program for the payment of rents for establishments of entrepreneurs, who were affected by government restrictive measures, has been adopted. The proposal counts with the payment of up to 50 % of the total rent for the period from April to June 2020 (a maximum of CZK 20 million). To obtain this subsidy, the entrepreneur has to submit a confirmation from the landlord in the form of an amendment to the lease agreement, that he has provided the tenant with a 30 % rent discount. Allocation of another CZK 2.5 billion to this program.
A bill, which allows to defer the payment of social security insurance premiums and contributions to the state’s employment policy paid by employers as taxpayers, has been approved. Employers will be able to pay insurance premiums for May, June and July until 20 October 2020 with a penalty of only 4% p.a.
The National Reform Program, which describes, for example, planned investments in the infrastructure or steps to fulfil the Innovation Strategy of the Czech Republic 2019 to 2030, has been approved. The document also summarizes the economic measures taken in connection with the coronavirus pandemic.
A bill setting a deadline for the submission of the bill on the State budget of the Czech Republic for 2021 has been approved. The bill was prepared as a result of the current coronavirus crisis, due to which it is still unclear how big loss will the state’s revenues suffer next year. The Ministry of Finance wants to submit the final bill on the State budget for 2021 to the Government by 30 September.
A guarantee program COVID III, through which the state will support companies with up to 500 employees by securing their debts in the total amount of CZK 150 billion in guarantees, has been announced. State aid will cover operating loans up to CZK 50 million, which will be provided to companies until 31 December 2020. Depending on the number of employees, companies will be able to apply for an operating loan of up to 80-90% of the principal of the guaranteed loan.
The Czech Rise Up 2.0 subsidy program, for which the Government will allocate up to CZK 300 million, has been approved. The program targets projects that focus on the use of existing technologies for the development of medical and non-medical solutions, the aim of which is, for example, to manage all the consequences of the crisis or preparation for a possible second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
A bill on the compensation to persons providing paid health services has been approved. The law obliges health insurance companies to reimburse the costs of health care providers, which are connected to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic. According to the Ministry of Health, the final sum may mount up to CZK 5 billion.
A bill on an anti-crisis tax package to help the most affected sectors has been adopted. The package mainly touches a VAT reduction from 15 to 10 percent in the area of accommodation services, admission fees to cultural events and sporting events, admission fees to sports grounds, fare on ski lifts and admission fees to saunas and other similar facilities. The package also includes the reduction to 25 percent in road tax on lorries over 3.5 tonnes, shortens the deadline for refunding the overpayment of excise duty on so-called „green diesel“ and introduces a loss carry back for income taxes for all natural and legal persons.
A bill on the waiver of social security premiums and contributions to the state employment policy paid by employers as taxpayers has been adopted. This program, called Antivirus C, applies, under specific conditions, to employers with less than 50 employees and to the months of June, July and August.
The program providing support via the “Support and Guarantee Agricultural and Forestry Fund, Operation 2020 – reduction of the loan principal”, which is intended for small and medium-sized entrepreneurs in the field of primary agricultural production, has been adopted. They will be able to apply for financial support in the maximum amount of CZK 150,000, which, however, must not exceed 50% of the outstanding loan principal.
The COVID-Sport subsidy program, which is intended to provide financial assistance to organizers of sports events, operators of sports facilities and sports organizations that have to pay rent for the use of sports facilities, has been approved. Total of CZK 1 billion is set aside for the program, which was initiated mainly due to the fact, that the above-mentioned are mainly non-profit organizations, who weren’t able to apply for financial assistance from any of the already launched governmental programs.
A bill which aims to mitigate the impact of the decline in tax revenues of municipalities in 2020, has been adopted. Each municipality should receive a bonus of CZK 1,200 per inhabitant, which mounts to total amount of almost CZK 13 billion.
The Crisis Action Plan of Tourism of the Czech Republic 2020-2021 has been approved. By mentioned plan the Government wants to support entrepreneurs in the field of tourism, e.g. in the form of support for increasing demand for their services called Holidays in the Czech Republic, revision of the National Tourism Support Program in the regions or previously introduced vouchers which postpone the obligation to return money to clients for cancelled trips.
A proposal for the acceptance of a very advantageous loan from the Development Bank of the Council of Europe, thanks to which the Czech Republic can obtain up to EUR 300 million, has been approved. This money will be used to cover the extra costs in healthcare, occurred due to the fight against the coronavirus.
The Government consents to make an agreement on irrevocable and unconditional guarantees payable on demand within the meaning of Article 11 of the Council regulation on the establishment of a European instrument for temporary support to mitigate unemployment risks in an emergency (SURE) following the COVID-19 outbreak. Thanks to this agreement, the Czech Republic will be able to obtain up to EUR 374 million to pay programs announced by EU member states to support the employment rate.
The financing of bilateral foreign cooperation and humanitarian aid until 2023 has been approved. Aid to developing countries worth over CZK 3 billion intends to help partner countries reviving their economic growth and thus open the door to these markets for Czech companies.
An amendment to the Act on Banks and an amendment to the Act on Recovery Procedures and Resolution of the Crisis in the Financial Market have been approved. These are intended to strengthen the banking sector, increase the efficiency of supervision and adjust the rules for possible resolution of banks‘ problems.
A second wave of financing of social services related to coronavirus, during which nearly a billion CZK will be released to cover the increased costs of social services operators during the epidemic, has been adopted.
A program called „COVID – Cultural and Creative Industries“, to which CZK 1 billion will be allocated, has been approved. The money will be used, for example, to cover 50 percent of the costs (up to a maximum of CZK 5 million) for the organizers of cultural events, which have been either cancelled or postponed due to the coronavirus crisis. Small and medium-sized enterprises in the creative industries will be supported in the form of subsidies and creative vouchers.
The COVID – Spa program was approved on 29 June. Spa facilities will be allowed to offer clients a customer discount on curative sojourns and preventive spa visits amounting to CZK 4,000. The discount will be provided in the form of a voucher that potential clients will be able to print out from the website kudyznudy.cz , or request directly at the spa facility.
The draft amendment to the Compensation Bonus Act was also approved. This act allows CZK 350 per day from 12 March to 8 June 2020 to be paid out to individuals who, in the six months preceding the crisis, had been working under a contract for work or a contract of services for at least four months. The maximum compensation bonus per person is CZK 31,150.
Support from the COVID – Culture program can be requested by organisers of cultural events who had to cancel or reschedule an event between 10 March and 31 August. Fifty percent of eligible expenditure will be paid out, up to a maximum of CZK 5 million. A total of CZK 900 million has been set aside.
The COVID – Accommodation program has also been functioning since 20 July. If their accommodation facility has been operating for the last two years, accommodation providers can receive between CZK 100 and CZK 300 per room per night. This applies to the period from 14 March to 24 May.
Due to the decision reached on 27 July, employees of inpatient care providers are entitled to remuneration from the subsidy program. An amount of CZK 11.25 billion is available under this grant title. Healthcare professionals in inpatient care are entitled to remuneration of CZK 25,000 per month and non-healthcare professionals to CZK 10,000 depending on hours worked.
The eligibility of Targeted Employment Support Program expenses is extended until 31 October. This applies to regimes A and B of the „Antivirus Program“. This can be used to compensate expenses incurred after 12 March. Total expenses of about 4.25 billion are anticipated for September and October.
Approved is also a draft law on adjustments to the provision of the care allowance in relation to the extraordinary epidemic measures and amendments to the law on health insurance. It is extending the support period for the provision of benefits from nine, or sixteen calendar days in the case of a single parent, to all or part of a school closure due to the continuation of the emergency.
The government has also approved a draft amendment to a law for some measures to ease the effects of the epidemic of the coronavirus designated as SARS-CoV-2 in the area of cultural events. The amendment extends the effect of the act, which enables organisers to defer until 30 September 2021 the return of the entrance fees for events that were supposed to have been held during the effect of the amendment, but due to the ongoing epidemic had to be cancelled.
In Covid – Culture programme, there will be 750 million crowns earmarked for the programme and the support will be provided in the form of ex-post subsidies for expenses incurred in vain for individual cultural events or projects that arose in the decisive period from 1 October 2019 until 20 November 2020 and for expenses in the framework of performed continual activities in the area of culture from the period from 1 March 2020 until 20 November 2020. The organisers can receive up to half of the eligible expenses for postponed or cancelled cultural events and up to 80 per cent of the eligible expenses for continuously developed activities. One subject can obtain a maximum of 10 million crowns, a self-employed person 60 000 crowns.
The Antivirus A programme is also extended, now under the name Antivirus Plus. The state will cover the employers’ payroll expenses for employees who find themselves in quarantine or isolation or for obstacles to work, if the employer had to close or significantly limit its operations as a result of government measures. Employers who were affected by the government measures in connection with the newly-announced state of emergency will receive one hundred per cent of the payroll expenses for these employees from the state retroactively from 1 October, with the maximum monthly limit per person increasing from 39 000 to 50 000 crowns.
Extended and modified is also the Covid – Rent subsidy programme. There will be 1.2 billion crowns available in the second call and the right to the payment of rent will apply to all businesses operating retail business activities and providers of services to customers in business establishments that are under a lease and who have been banned or significantly limited in the providing of services to customers and the sale of goods in these business establishments on the basis of passed crisis measures.
The new Covid – Bus programme supports businesses in irregular bus transportation. Transporters who provide, for example, tours or transport children to camps and school trips lost a considerable part of their orders in the first half of the year due to the pandemic and the government-ordered ban on events and other restrictions. The amount of support will depend on how environmentally-friendly the vehicles are and their number of seats. One billion crowns will be earmarked for the programme.
A half a billion crowns will go to the Covid – Sport II subsidy programme and the amount of a specific subsidy will depend on the sport, the size of the club and the operating expenses. Clubs from the highest football and hockey leagues will be able to ask for the highest amount, 12.5 million crowns. Organisers of sporting events will be paid at most fifty per cent of the eligible expenses to a maximum amount of 10 million crowns.
The liberation package is to issue a decision that will forgive interest on overdue payments for value added tax payable in the period from October to December 2020, if the tax will be paid by the end of the year 2020, and advance payments payable in December 2020 on personal income tax, corporate income tax and the road tax.
A Bill on a compensation bonus in connection with the ban or restriction of business activities envisages the resumption of the payment of the compensation bonus for self-employed persons, for partners in selected limited liability companies and for those working on the basis of an agreement on the performance of work or an agreement on work activity. Small businesses from the most affected trades will be able to receive 500 crowns per calendar day from 5 October to 4 November 2020.
A draft amendment to the Act on certain adjustments in the area of sales records seeks to extend the cancellation of the obligation for entrepreneurs to record sales under the Act on the Registration of Sales, from 31 December 2020 until 31 December 2022.
Support from the Care Allowance II for the self-employed programme is also intended for self-employed persons who care for a dependent child up to the age of 26 who is dependent on the help of another person at least at level I (mild dependence). This will be CZK 400 per day, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade will allocate CZK 200 million from its budget to this programme.
The Agrocovid Foodstuffs programme will focus on supporting food producers whose output goes to public catering, which has been heavily restricted by the government’s crisis measures. this support will cover approximately 8,500 to 10,000 entities, and wants to set aside three billion crowns for the programme.
The Covid III Guarantee Programme will also continue. The government has decided to extend the national guarantee programme by twelve months, until 31 December 2021. Entrepreneurs will now be able to apply to the Czech-Moravian Guarantee and Development Bank for a guarantee on investment loans. The period until which performance under the state guarantee can be claimed is also extended to 30 April 2026, instead of the original 30 June 2024.
Approved is a draft amendment to the Act on Certain Measures to Mitigate the Impact of the Coronavirus Epidemic on participants in court proceedings, injured parties, victims of crime and legal entities, and amendments to the Insolvency Act and the Civil Procedure Code, and to the Act on Bankruptcy and means for its resolution.
A draft amendment to the Act on Investment Incentives is intended in turn to help investors more easily meet the conditions for an investment incentive in these difficult times. The main objective of the draft is to reintroduce the possibility to extend the deadline for meeting the general conditions in justified cases.
A draft law on certain adjustments to state social support benefits and the care allowance should limit to the essential minimum any public contact with workplaces of the Czech Republic Labour Office. Applicants for state social support benefits and care allowance in the fourth quarter will not have to provide the required documents at the these offices, the authorities will automatically take over documents from the previous quarter.
There will be also financial support for small companies operating in the audio-visual industry. It has reduced the approved amount of funding for the provision of regional cultural infrastructure in the field of cultural heritage from 110 million to 12 million crowns; the 98 million saved will support cinema operators, and production and distribution companies through the State Cinematography Fund.
Thanks to the Covid – Tourism promotion programme, tour operators will be able to apply for subsidies, and can receive up to 2.75 percent of the planned revenues from the sale of tours and from the sale of tourism services which are part of combined travel services for 2020; so will travel agencies, which can receive 500 crowns per tour cancelled because of the pandemic and purchased in the period from 1 December 2019 to 1 October 2020, and for any spa stay cancelled at the time when facilities were closed; and incoming travel agencies, for which support of 50,000 crowns is allocated.
The extension of Call 2 of the Covid – Rental programme was also approved. As a result of this expansion, the programme allocation will be increased by 1.8 billion crowns to a total of three billion crowns. The government will release these funds from the government budget reserve.
Extension of the Antivirus B aid programme through to the end of the year, i.e. until 31 December 2020.
Entrepreneurs and companies in crisis will be helped by further expansion of the liberation package. This means mass waiving of interest on overdue value added tax payable for October to December 2020 if the tax is paid by the end of 2020, advances on income tax for natural and legal persons payable from 15 October 2020 to 15 December 2020, and road tax advances payable 15 April 2020, 15 July 2020, 15 October 2020 and 15 December 2020.
Approved is also a proposal to extend Call 2 of the Covid – Rental subsidy programme to other operations that have now been affected by a restriction or prohibition of activities in connection with the further restrictions on retail and services that were approved by the Government with effect from Wednesday, 28 October.
Covid – Tourism subsidy programme is to help travel agencies, tour operators and tourist guides, who have lost customers and orders as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. There is up to 425 milion to divide.
Agricovid – Food industry subsidy programme is there to help the food and agriculture industries that have been affected by the closing of restaurants and other public eating establishments. There will be up to three billion crowns available here.
Hotel businesses and other accommodation services providers will be able to for compensation for part of lost profits for the period from October to December thanks to Covid – Accomodation programme. They will receive 100 to 300 CZK per bed.
Retail and services businesses operating in rented establishments and affected by the Covid response measures will be able to apply for compensation for 50 per cent of their total rent for the period from October to December 2020 thanks to Covid – Rent programme.
Subsidy programme called Covid – Gastro will be intended to help the gastronomy sector, with the government earmarking a total of CZK 2.5 billion from the state budget for the programme.
During January, Covid – Sport III Ski Resorts programme will be launched. Owners and operators of ski resorts will be able to apply for financial compensation in the form of subsidies for operating expenses. It will be from CZK 210 to 530 per day in the period from 27 December 2020 until 22 January 2021.
The Covid – Spas subsidy programme has been extended for the period from 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2021.
Owners of such who offer accommodation services on a permanent basis for the purpose of profit and livelihood will be able to apply for a subsidy of CZK 200 per day under the Covid – Accommodation II programme.
The subsidy heading Covid – Travel Agencies II will follow up on the previous programme, at the same time eliminating the existing proportional disadvantage for large travel agencies. The amount of the subsidy for individual applicants will be calculated proportionately based on the amount of contributions to the travel agencies guarantee fund.
There are also two new guarantee programmes. The first guarantee programme Covid Guarantee TA will also concern travel agencies, in particular small and medium ones, which will be able to draw a state-guaranteed loan to cover legally mandated bankruptcy insurance.
The second guarantee programme Covid Guarantee – Sport is meant to help address the current problems of self-employed persons and SMEs operating in the sports sector.
From 3 February to 3 April, sellers will be able to reduce prices on respirators in class FFP2 and higher. The full pardon will waive the value added tax for the delivery of filtering half masks and respirators that meet the parameters of protection class at least FFP2, KN95 or N95 or have the same or higher filtering effect.
Second call under the Agricovid Food Production subsidy scheme has been approved. It will follow the previous scheme in the follow-up period from 1 December 2020 till 28 February 2021.
Further reprieves for individuals and entrepreneurs during the coronavirus crisis have been prepared. Approved is a regulation that waives administrative fees for filing an application to extend the period for submitting a tax return, report or final accounts under the condition that the taxpayer files it between 1 January 2021 and 16 August 2021.
New support programme COVID – Fairs/Congresses will be able to help enterpreneurs, who lost at least 30 percent of their turnover between March and October 2020 against the same period of 2019. They may apply for support at 60 percent of uncovered costs, the rate for State-owned entities or territorial self-governments is 40 percent .
Covid – Spas programme has been extended for the period from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021. Newly, businesess could receive increased support from 800 000 to 1,8 milion EUR.
Approved is also a bill on certain other adjustments in the area of state social support benefits and attendance allowance in connection with the covid-19 epidemic. The bill is intended to help resolve the situation at Labour Offices, which have found themselves a personnel crisis due to covid-19 infections, quarantines and nursing leaves related to the closure of schools and kindergartens.
Covid III – Modification Invest will help firms to obtain guarantees from the Czech-Moravian Guarantee and Development Bank also for commercial loans for investments. businesses will be able to borrow up to CZK 90 million for investments.
All schemes of the Antivirus programme, i.e. Antivirus A, Antivirus B and Antivirus A Plus, will continue for a month longer than planned. I tis extended until 31 May due to the continuing epidemic measures that constrain some sectors of the economy.
Employers will be able to continue to receive financial assistance for the wages of quarantined employees or for barriers to work related to the covid-19 epidemic.
Under the Antivirus A program, the period of eligibility of program expenditures will be extended to 28 February 2022.
The Antivirus B program is also reactivated, which compensates employers for the costs of employees who, as a result of the effects of the pandemic, find themselves in a barrier to work on the part of the employer.
For these employees, the state will reimburse 60 percent of the employee’s wage compensation, including compulsory insurance premiums, up to CZK 29,000 per month. The newly established second period of eligibility of expenditure will run from 1 November 2021 to 28 February 2022.
The entire Antivirus program was then extended until June 30, 2022, which will allow the individual Antivirus programs to be further extended until this time, if necessary.
The Covid – Uncovered Costs program will announce the third call, thanks to which entrepreneurs will be able to obtain support in the amount of 40 percent of uncovered fixed costs with a limit of 15 million crowns per applicant. The decisive period will be set from 1 November and will still apply in December.
An alternative to this program will again be the Covid 2021 program, where the employer will be able to draw 300 crowns for one full-time employee and day, while maintaining the same condition of a 30% decrease in sales.
As of 1 January 2022, the second period of eligibility of expenditure of Mode B of the Targeted Employment Support Program Antivirus is suspended from 1 January 2022.

Autor: Euroskop

Source: Office of the Government of the Czech Republic

Measures adopted by the Czech Government against coronavirus

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Measures concerning foreigners and border crossing

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