Daily news summary

Government expected to identify “safe destinations” for holiday travel

At its session on Monday the cabinet is due to debate a list of so-called high-risk countries, from which people returning to the Czech Republic will be required to produce a COVID 19 negative test or undergo a 14-day quarantine.

It will also identify “safe” holiday destinations to which travel should be problem-free. The latter should include Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and Greece.

The government earlier announced that travel restrictions will be lifted in mid-June.

Rail operator RegioJet has announced it will start operating a direct rail connection between the Czech Republic and Croatia at the end of the month.

PM promises state will make up for losses to municipal budgets

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has said he will propose increasing state subsidies for local projects in municipalities in order to make up for the expenditures liked to coronavirus aid to small and medium-sized businesses.

In the past days municipalities have protested against the government‘s decision that the aid to entrepreneurs is to come from municipal budgets rather than state finances, saying they would lack money for vital local projects.

The prime minister said on Twitter that the state would more than make up for the compensation package by increasing state aid for local projects by 20 percent. He said the arrangement had been the only workable solution legally.

International Children’s Day celebrations low key due to coronavirus

The traditional events linked to International Children’s Day are low key this year due to the coronavirus restrictions pertaining to gatherings of more than 300 people.

The International Film Festival for Children and Youth in Zlín, which is one of the traditional events linked to the holiday, has been postponed until September and a planned ride on a steam-powered train along the newly-reconstructed Negrelli Viaduct planned for June 1 was also moved to September.

However some small-scale events have been planned and some institutions, such as the National Museum are free of charge for children today.

Neovlivni.cz: Government downplaying EU assistance to entrepreneurs

The Czech government has been downplaying financial aid provided by the EU to entrepreneurs and companies hit by the COVID-19 crisis, the news site Neovlivni.cz writes.

Neovlivni says a substantial part of the aid packages which the government presents as state assistance within the COVID I and II programs are financed by the European Union. In COVID I, close to half of the total sum of one billion crowns, comes from EU funds; COVID II, amounting to five billion crowns, draws entirely on EU finances, according to Magdalena Frouzová from the Czech Representation of the European Commission.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš previously wrote on Twitter that there is nothing to "thank" the European Union for since the money that goes into the COVID programs had already been allocated to the Czech Republic within the 2014-2020 period and had not been used up.

Darkov mine coronavirus outbreak slowing down according to hygienists

The outbreak in the Silesian Darkov mine, which has been one of the main centres of the coronavirus pandemic in the Czech Republic over these past two weeks, seems to be slowing down, according to newly released information from the Regional Hygienist Office in Ostrava.

As of Sunday evening, 347 people from the mine and nearby settlement had been infected with the coronavirus. Aside from miners, this included some of their family members and workers commuting from abroad. However, Saturday saw just four new infections.

In relation to the outbreak, hygienists ordered increasing the rate of disinfection in the public places of surrounding towns and districts. Some towns, such as nearby Karviná asked people to stay in quarantine and not to leave their homes.

Ministries move to quash corona-conspiracies

The ministry of industry and trade and that of regional development have issued a joint statement dismissing the conspiracy theories that claim 5G technology helps transmit the coronavirus. The statement says the information circulating on social networks is complete nonsense and there is no credible scientific evidence for such a link.

The ministries of the interior and health have also issued statements refuting the connection between 5G and coronavirus and condemning the spread of fake news and scaremongering in connection with the pandemic.

Weather forecast

Tuesday is expected to be clear to partly cloudy with day temperatures between 16 and 20 degrees Celsius.