News: Sunday, July 4th, 2021

Covid cases rise slightly, testing soars ahead of holidays

Czech labs detected 124 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, up from 67 a week earlier. However, some 21,000 more tests were administered, likely because people need them before leaving for holidays.

Over the past seven days, there were about nine people infected per 100,000 inhabitants. The reproduction number rose slightly to just over 1.3, the highest since the early January, Ministry of Health data show.

Czechia misses EU single-use plastics ban deadline

The Czech Republic has yet to approve the European directive banning single-use plastics that came into force on Saturday and could face sanctions due to the delay.

The Ministry of the Environment, however, expects that Czech MPs will soon approve the directive and that the now banned products will disappear by June 2022.

Adopted in 2018 after several months of negotiations between EU member states of the European Union, the directive bans a dozen categories of plastics. According to the European Commission, the products concerned represent 70 percent of the waste washed up in the oceans and on the beaches.

Deloitte: prices of flats in big Czech cities up 19 pct on average

Prices of flats in large Czech regional cities increased by an average of 19 percent year-on-year in the first quarter to 77,800 crowns per square metre, according to the consultancy Deloitte. The growth rate was the highest in the last five years.

A Prague flat cost on average 100,000 crowns per square metre. Since the end of 2015, prices in the Czech Republic have increased by an average of 86 percent, according to Deloitte, which compares sales prices from purchase contracts registered in the real estate cadastre.

ČSSZ: Nearly every third Czech senior opts for early retirement

A growing number of people are retiring early and taking reduced pensions, according to the Czech Social Insurance Institute (ČSSZ).

At the end of the first quarter, 28 percent of seniors were on reduced pension payments of 13,738 crowns per month on average, about 1,600 crowns less than those who worked till the statutory retirement age.

Football: Czech team captain Vladimír Darida steps down

Following the Czech Republic’s loss to Denmark in the Euro 2020 quarter-finals on Saturday, team captain Vladimír Darida unexpectedly announced his retirement. The 30-year-old midfielder for German club Hertha BSC said he wants to spend more time with his family.

Darida was first included in the Czech squad for the Euro 2012 tournament. In the quarter-final match against Portugal, he earned his second cap, his first in an official tournament, starting in place of the injured Tomáš Rosický.

Born in Plzeň, Darida came through at Viktoria Plzeň, also spending time on loan at FK Baník Sokolov in 2011. He joined Freiburg in 2013. Darida signed for Hertha BSC from relegated Freiburg ahead of the 2015-16 season.

Prague Pride set for August 2-8, without parade

The Prague Pride Festival will take place from August 2-8 but again without the traditional carnival parade in order to protect against the spread of the coronavirus.

Numerous concerts, exhibitions, film screenings, debates and other activities are planned for the 11 year of the LGBTQ+ community festival.

Banat Festival in Czech-Romanian community to resume

After a one-year break, the Banat Festival supporting the ethnic Czech community in Romania will resume. A train with 1,200 musicians and visitors will set off for Oršava on August 17, then head to Eibental, where the main part of the festival takes place.

Among the bands taking part are Zrní, PSH, Vasilův Rubáš, Švihadlo, Timudej, Pio Squad and the surprise winner of this year's Anděl Music Awards singer 7krát3 (Štěpán Hebík).

Weather

Monday should be cloudy with a chance of light rain and average daytime highs of around 23 degrees Celsius.