Czech shops, restaurants to reopen on December 3

PRAGUE: The Czech government said Sunday it would reopen shops and restaurants, museum and galleries across the country on December 3 as the coronavirus spread keeps slowing down.

"The Czech Republic will move from tier 4 to tier 3 (of its five-tier restrictions system) and the day when this will happen is Thursday next week," Health Minister Jan Blatny told reporters.

The EU member of 10.7 million people led the European statistics of new Covid-19 infections and deaths for a month.

But the growth pace has recently started to slow down owing to restrictions introduced in mid-October, with daily increases hovering around 5,000 cases against 15,000 last month.

"We expect a further improvement next week," Blatny added.

Shops selling non-essential goods, services such as hairdressers, restaurants and bars, galleries and museums will be open with restrictions, while theatres and cinemas will remain closed to spectators.

The move also raises the limit for gatherings to 50 people outdoors and ten people indoors and cancels an overnight curfew introduced last month.

The decision will not affect schools. Universities will remain closed, just like secondary schools with the exception of the final year.