News: Thursday, July 22nd, 2021

Forcibly sterilised Czech women to receive financial compensation

The Czech Senate has approved financial compensation for thousands of Czech women who were unlawfully forced to undergo sterilisation between 1996 and 2012. The women are set to each receive CZK 300,000 once the legislation has been signed into law by the president.

Many of the women concerned were from the country’s Roma minority. In some cases they were coerced into signing consent forms while they were in labour or were recovering from Caesarean sections.

Thursday’s vote followed a long campaign for justice for the victims.

Olympic Committee investigate “Covid” flight described as scandal by PM

Senior Czech Olympic Committee officials have begun investigating a plane that brought members of the Czech party to Tokyo last Friday. A doctor on the plane was reported by news site Seznam Zprávy to have been the first passenger on board to later test positive for Covid-19. Since then two beach volleyball players, a beach volleyball coach and a table tennis player have tested positive for the virus.

Seznam Zprávy said that the doctor, Vlastimil Voráček, could have been vaccinated against Covid but did not do so. It also reported that most passengers took off their respirators as soon as the plane took off.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has described the situation as a scandal and unfair to the athletes.

Nausch Sluková latest Czech to test positive in Tokyo

The third and latest Czech athlete confirmed to have Covid-19 is beach volleyball player Markéta Nausch Sluková, who revealed she had tested positive on Thursday. She had been due to compete this coming Saturday but must instead spend 10 days in isolation.

Nausch Sluková’s agent, David Trávníček, told iDnes.cz that the Czech Olympic Committee’s handling of the transport of athletes to Tokyo was a case of “pure amateurism”. Five members of the Czech party have tested positive for the virus since taking a special plane together late last week.

Covid infections continue slight drop, reproduction rate still below 1

Laboratories in the Czech Republic confirmed 235 new cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, about 25 fewer than on the same day a week ago. The daily incidence thus fell slightly for a fourth consecutive day. The reproductive number has also remained below since Sunday.

The virus, in particular the Delta variant, is spreading to a greater extent in Prague and the Pilsen region, with the lowest number of new infections reported by the Ústí nad Labem and Zlín regions.

The Central Crisis Committee on Wednesday evaluated the anti-pandemic measures as sufficient, although he stressed the importance of staying vigilant.

Fire fighters finish work in tornado-hit villages in Moravia

Fire fighters have completed their work in villages in south Moravia that were devastated by a tornado last month. The news was announced on Thursday by the governor of the region, Jan Grolich. Police officers and soldiers are continuing to work in the municipalities, which saw extensive damage.

Mr. Grolich said that food supplies should be working by the start of August, when homes should also have gas and electricity once again. Currently locals are getting by on alternative power sources.

Janoušek re-enters jail after court health ruling

Influential Czech businessman Roman Janoušek re-entered prison on Thursday after a court ruled that he was well enough to see out the rest of his sentence. He had previously been released while serving a four-and-a-half-year term, for hit and run, after undergoing brain surgery and on the grounds he had an incurable disease.

At one point on Thursday a missing person alert for Mr. Janoušek was issued. However, he later turned up himself at Prague’s Pankrác prison.

Dutch architecture firm to design new station for Brno

A competition to design a new main train station for Brno has been won by a Dutch architecture firm. Benthem Crouwel Architects have previously been behind the station in Rotterdam and an extension to the station in Amsterdam.

The company said the station, which will cost the state up to CZK 48 billion, will provide a new gateway to Brno and provide a positive impulse for the creation of a new district nearby.

The architectural competition for the station – which should be completed in 2035 – has been described as the biggest in the country’s history.

Weather forecast

It should be mainly overcast in the Czech Republic on Friday, with an average high temperature of 24 degrees Celsius. Most of the following days will also be cloudy.