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President Miloš Zeman appoineted Petr Fiala, leader of the Civic Democratic Party, to the post of prime minister at a ceremony in Lany chateaux on Sunday. In view of the president’s positive test for Covid, the appointment took place under strict hygiene norms in a room with two entrances, separated by a Plexiglas wall. The scenario allowed for visual and audio contact only.
The appointment took place seven weeks after October‘s general elections, in which the SPOLU alliance of Civic Democrats, TOP 09 and the Christian Democrats beat the ruling ANO party by a slim margin. Petr Fiala, who has led the Civic Democrats since 2014, successfully negotiated a coalition agreement between SPOLU and the other anti-Babiš election alliance, the Pirates and Mayors and Independents. The five party coalition government will have a comfortable 108 seat majority in the lower house.
It is not yet clear when the president will appoint the whole cabinet. Petr Fiala has already presented him with the proposed line up for an 18-member cabinet.The president said he would start one-on-one talks with the presidential nominees right away, saying the process could be concluded by December 13.
The new prime minister said his cabinet is ready to take over responsibility for the country immediately. The new administration will have to tackle the Covid epidemic, the energy crisis and soaring inflation.
In his first press briefing following his appointment to the post of prime minister, Petr Fiala thanked citizens for acting responsibly and getting vaccinated so as to protect themselves and others. He appealed to those who have not yet done so to seriously consider getting vaccinated since inoculation is clearly the only way to return to a normal life. He also thanked doctors, nurses and paramedics for their selfless, dedicated work in extremely difficult conditions.
The prime minister also thanked President Zeman for carrying out the appointment, despite his health complications and expressed the hope that the new cabinet could take over responsibility for the country as soon as possible.
The Czech authorities are dealing with what is believed to be the country's first case of the African strain of the coronavirus the B.1.1.529, also known as Omicron.
The suspected sample, which is undergoing further tests for final confirmation, is that of a woman from Liberec who recently returned from Namibia. The woman’s contacts are being traced. Although confirmation is expected from the National Reference Laboratory, previous tests suggest there is a 90 percent probability that the sample is the Omicron strain.
In response to the news, Switzerland has tightened travel restrictions for people travelling from the Czech Republic. In addition to a negative PCR test they will have to self-isolate for 10 days.
Meanwhile, the Czech Republic has imposed travel restrictions on people returning from a number of southern African nations. Travellers who spent more than 12 hours in South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Zambia or Mozambique in the past 14 days will have to quarantine for 10 days upon entry to the Czech Republic. The restriction is valid for citizens from EU member states as well. Citizens from third countries who do not have long term residence in the Czech Republic will not be allowed entry.
Health Minister Adam Vojtěch has Covid and has gone into self-isolation for a fortnight. The health minister confirmed having tested positive when he appeared online on a debate on Czech Television on Sunday. Mr. Vojtěch said he was vaccinated and had only mild symptoms. The health minister is expected to attend Monday’s government session online.
The number of newly registered coronavirus cases in the Czech Republic dropped slightly on Saturday in a weekly comparison, to 12,514 cases, the Health Ministry said. The incidence number also dropped from 1,209 to 1,191 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the space of a week. The number of people hospitalized with Covid is just under 6,000, up by 800 from last week. 948 Covid patients presently require intensive care.
Over 2,500 people gathered on Prague’s Letna plain on Sunday to protest against the Covid restrictions imposed and call for an end of discrimination of people not vaccinated against Covid.
The event, called Festival of Freedom and Courage, was organized by the association of small entrepreneurs Chcipl pes. Its organizer David Tesar told reporters that in addition to the main program, people could avail themselves of the services and advice of like-minded doctors and lawyers on how to defend themselves against the measures imposed.
Reigning snowboard World Cup champion Eva Samková won the inaugural race at the Secret Garden in Zhangjiakou on Saturday, coming in ahead of Britain’s Charlotte Banks. The race is a qualifying event ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, and the first event held at what will be the Olympic track in February.
Samková won three World Cup events last season on route to claiming the overall title and will hope for further success this campaign, before she aims to add to her Sochi 2014 gold and Pyeongchang 2018 bronze medals.
Monday should be partly cloudy to overcast with snow showers and day temperatures between -1 and 3 degrees Celsius.
President Miloš Zeman appointed Civic Democrat leader Petr Fiala to the post of prime minister at Lany chateau on Sunday. The appointment ceremony, in which the two men were divided by a Plexiglas wall, was arranged so as to meet strict hygiene norms after President Zeman tested positive for Covid on Thursday.
On November 28, 1931 construction work started on the Barrandov Film Studios which were to become one of the biggest and most modern studio facilities in Europe. Over the years they have been the location of choice for the production of more than 2,500 Czech and international films and offer a network of highly-skilled English-speaking crews, trained to Hollywood standards.
This year’s Czech Nightingales saw Ewa Farna win her first ever Nightingale award for best female singer, with the best male signer award going to Marek Ztracený, who was also voted the overall Czech Nightingale winner of 2021. Voters chose 23-year-old Michal Horák as this year’s Czech music discovery. Meanwhile the four-man grouping Mirai won the Nightingale for best band. Horrorcore rapper Řezník, known for his violent lyrics, received the Nightingale in the Hip Hop & Rap category. We will look at their music in this week’s Sunday Music Show.
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