Babiš Confirms Govt. Plan For Relaxing Measures, With No Further State of Emergency

The government will not ask the Chamber of Deputies to extend the state of emergency, currently valid until May 17th, said Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) on Sunday, speaking on private channel TV Nova. The cabinet previously wanted to extend the state of emergency until May 25th. Photo credit: Vlada.cz

Czech Rep., May 4 (BD) – “We will not ask for that,” said Babiš. Instead, he said, Health Minister Adam Vojtěch (ANO) will propose an amendment to the Public Health Protection Act at Monday’s cabinet meeting, which will enable restrictive measures to be kept in place on the basis of a decision from the Health Ministry, even without an active state of emergency. The aim is to maintain the government’s schedule for relaxing the current restrictions.

Opposition figures have criticised the planned step as undemocratic as “there are no grounds for one minister to be able to decide everything”.

Babiš also announced that the Electronic Cash Register (EET) could remain suspended until the end of the year. At the same time, he is going to recommend a reduction in VAT on accommodation services to 10%. 

According to Babiš, children’s summer camps could be able to start on July 1st, but that will still depend on the epidemiological situation.

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