Czech government closes most shops, restaurants to fight coronavirus

The Czech government said it was shutting most shops and restaurants on Saturday for 10 days as part of measures to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.

The measure, announced overnight, followed other restrictions imposed in past days, including closing schools and banning public events such as sports games or concerts. From Monday, foreign travel will be banned and foreigners will be barred from entering the country.

Exceptions to the order on closing shops included food stores, pharmacies, banks, post offices, gas stations and takeaway food establishments. "We wanted to avoid people going to shopping centres today," Prime Minister Andrej Babis told a news conference on Saturday, broadcast on television.

Interior Minister Jan Hamacek said the government's aim was to spread out the rise of infections over time to reduce the strain on the health system. "We need people to go to work but stay home afterwards," Hamacek said. "Those (countries) who have managed to do something about the situation say ... limit interaction among people."

The government has been under fire on social media for taking a heavy-handed approach while not testing people more widely. Health workers have reported shortages of protective gear such as facemasks and respirators at hospitals, senior care centres and pharmacies. The Czech Republic, a central European country of 10.7 million people, had 150 cases as of Saturday morning, with no deaths. It had tested 3,094 people as of Friday evening, with 741 tests taken on Friday, the Health Ministry said.

The government has said it aimed to ramp up testing by involving more laboratories and ordering 100,000 rapid-result test kits for delivery next week. Babis said 51,000 respirators were distributed to health facilities on Friday.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)