In response to opposition concerns about a second wave of Covid-19, Prime Minister Andrej Babis (ANO) stated that the government is ready, with smart quarantine systems in place, and that the government will never again bring in a blanket quarantine for the whole country. Photo credit: Vlada.cz
Czech Rep., Jun 6 (BD) – Speaking at a press conference on Friday morning, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said that the Czech Republic is prepared for any coming second wave of coronavirus, and that the country should therefore not be intimidated by the prospect. He guaranteed that any further outbreaks would be dealt with by smart quarantine systems, and that there no would be no need for a blanket lockdown.
“We are ready for the second wave. We have great technology, the smart quarantine works. We learned from the first wave and we are ready. We shouldn’t scare people,” he said, adding that there was no need to create any further plan, as requested by the opposition, because the smart quarantine was already dealing with local outbreaks such as in the Karviná coal mine in the Moravian-Silesian Region: “The plan is we’re monitoring it every day; it’s monitored by the system of smart quarantine.” Babis also stated that his government’s priority from now on would be to manage the economic crisis.
Although the Prime Minister’s comments were directed at opposition critics, they are somewhat at odds with previous comments from inside his own team. In May, Health Minister Adam Vojtech (ANO) said that: “If there were another massive increase in cases across the Czech Republic, then we would have to bring in nationwide measures again. It is impossible to say if and when this would happen, but we must be prepared for it.” Writing in Czech daily Pravo in May, Deputy Health Minister Roman Prymula, an epidemiologist, said: “I hope that we won’t have to close everything again in the autumn, but a second wave is very probable.”
