Czech government calls new state of emergency to back tougher COVID curbs

The Czech government has called a new state of emergency for 30 days starting from Sunday, gaining powers to curb people's movement as it looks to sharply tighten COVID restrictions, the government office said on Twitter on Friday.

The move was expected after parliament rejected extending a current state of emergency earlier on Friday. The government was meeting to finalise new tougher restrictions as it seeks to slow a COVID-19 infection rate among the highest in the world.