It will depend on the effectiveness of existing anti-coronavirus measures and the development of a pandemic. He thus responded to senatorial criticism about the purposefulness of closing most retail stores, while retail chains may be open.
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According to Havlíček, the current development of the epidemic in the Czech Republic gives a chance that the shops will open in the run-up to Christmas. “There is a chance that it will be done well in advance,” the deputy prime minister said. According to him, however, “only a suicide” could promise that the stores will open on December 5 or 10. According to Havlíček, more detailed information on the conditions for dismantling the measures could be presented on Friday by Minister of Health Jan Blatný (for YES).
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The deputy prime minister rejected the claim of pirate senator Lukáš Wagenknecht that the government closed most retail outlets on purpose. According to Havlíček, she only needed to limit the mobility of people and thus prevent the spread of coronavirus. Wagenknecht argued that the measure was not supported by evidence, as most people became infected in the workplace, according to health data.
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“You concentrate people in hypermarkets and do it purposefully, as you admitted here,” Wagenknecht told the deputy prime minister. “You are not the Minister of Industry and Trade, you are the Minister of Liquidation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises,” he added. According to the senator, with the closure of most stores, people concentrate in hypermarkets, while small traders are in danger of bankruptcy, as the support of 500 crowns per day for closed trades is alms. Government measures in relation to self-employed persons are not justified and fair, he added.
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The chairman of the ODS senators, Zdeněk Nytra, commented on the fact that state authorities want to collect the entire support provided to entrepreneurs within the Antivirus program only because they were one or two days late with the payment of health and social insurance contributions. Havlíček promised to try to find a remedy.
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According to Senate President Miloš Vystrčil (ODS), many companies are afraid to complain about the actions of the government and ministries so that someone will not “kneel” on them. According to the chairman of the Senate Economic Committee Vladislav Vilímec (ODS), government measures during this year’s waves of the epidemic are improvisation, while they should be effective and transparent.
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