Czech Parliament Extends State of Emergency Until February 14

Prague, Jan 22 (Sputnik) – The parliament of the Czech Republic has voted to extend the country’s current state of emergency over COVID-19 until February 14, according to online media broadcasts.
On October 5, the country introduced a 30-day state of emergency, which was later extended several times. The measure has significantly curtailed public life in the country.
Per the result, 54 lawmakers out of 101 backed the initiative.
Speaking during the parliamentarian session, Prime Minister Andrej Babis asked lawmakers to extend the emergency until February 21, citing the current situation in the country.
As expected, the country’s opposition expressed doubt in the necessity of the current restrictions and described the government’s actions as haphazard.
The ruling coalition of Babis’ ANO 2011 party and Czech Social Democratic Party were supported by Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia, which demanded resumption of classes for grade-schoolers and upperclassmen. The head of the health ministry, Jan Blatny, promised to do so.
The debates over the measure were quite rowdy, featuring a clash near the speaker’s stand as well as one overly excited lawmaker being made to leave the chamber.
A total of 917,300 cases, including 14,973 fatalities, have been confirmed in the Czech Republic during the pandemic.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here