Prague Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Karel Havlíček (for YES) wants to propose to the government at an extraordinary meeting on Friday to propose the lifting of the ban on sales on Sunday, more customers for operating space in stores or a simpler regime for mothers with prams or disabled, he said.
At Friday’s meeting, according to Havlíček, the government will discuss in the anti-epidemic system (PES) the transition from the highest, purple state of alert, to the fourth degree. In the case of retail and shopping centers, the rules at level 5 and 4 are the same. The only difference is the opening hours are the same as the curfew period. It is now valid from 21:00, in the case of the fourth degree it would start at 23:00.
New rules apply to the operation of shops. Only a limited number of people will be able to enter |
Havlíček thus expects that the sales time could be extended again and the number of visitors to the stores would be better spread throughout the day. The shops had to close at 19:59 from 28 October at the latest, and this time has been extended by an hour since Wednesday.
In the fourth and fifth stage, the limit of one customer per 15 square meters applies. Havlíček wants to propose an increase in the limit of two people for this area. The PES only counts on such a step in the second level of risk.
Stores are starting to count customers. Chains warn that there are also threats of clock queues |
After a meeting with President Miloš Zeman, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (YES) told reporters that he did not come up with any proposal and it was an initiative of Minister Havlíček. He reminded that similar measures work in Slovakia, Poland or Austria. According to him, it is a pity that the representatives of retail and the expert group of the Ministry of Health could not agree on this issue. “I am not able to judge it now. It is rather the opinion of the Minister, we will see how the Minister of Health will react to it, what the feedback will be like, “he said. He added that it was necessary to remain cautious due to the high number of infected.
On Wednesday, most chains decided to monitor the number of customers through counted carts. For example, people are allowed to enter the Kaufland, Penny, Billa or Albert stores exclusively with a wheelchair. For example, mothers with prams or people with crutches evaluated the measures negatively. According to Havlíček, exceptions should apply to these groups of people. He will also try to enforce this measure on Friday, he said.
According to Havlíček, no apocalypse, which some critics of the measure predicted, occurred in stores on Wednesday. However, he admitted that when people return from work on Wednesday, there may be more people in the shops at once and queues may form.
According to the findings so far, the situation in the shops has been calm so far. Short queues arose in the morning, for example, at some Penny stores when security guards explained new measures to people. According to Penny Market spokesman Tomáš Kubík, the ranks were cleared in a few minutes.
Havlíček’s muddy proposal will not be supported
“Large retail chains need this regulation and I don’t think anyone can convince me that it would be any different,” said Minister Jan Blatný (for YES). According to him, this reduced capacity in stores by only about ten or 15 percent, and queues could not form. According to the Minister of Health Blatný, the limitation of the number of people in shops according to their area should have been introduced already in September.
Shops regulate the number of shoppers baskets, one in pairs is not enough. Absolute nonsense, customers get upset |
He does not expect a reduction in the fourth and fifth levels of the risk score, determined by the anti-epidemic system (PES), he told members of the House Health Committee, according to a published audio recording. The limitation of the capacity of stores per buyer to 15 square meters came into force on Wednesday.
He thus responded to Wednesday’s statement by the Minister of Industry and Trade Karel Havlíček (YES), who wants to propose to the government an increase in capacity and the cancellation of sales on Sunday on Friday. But Blatný will not support it. “My goal is to make changes as little or as little as possible,” he added. According to him, adjustments are possible only from milder degrees of risk than the current fifth or fourth, to which the Czechia could move this or next week.
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