Czech parliament extends government's emergency powers to Jan. 22

The Czech government won a 30-day extension to its emergency powers from parliament on Tuesday as it considers further tightening restrictions to curb a rise in COVID-19 cases.

The Czech Republic has seen an uptick in infections in December and has had to shut bars and restaurants again after loosening some restrictions earlier in the month. The government has said it could move the country to the highest level of its risk index, leading to tougher measures over the Christmas holidays.

The state of emergency, which will be valid until Jan. 22, provides a legal basis for some measures such as limits on assembly or movement or temporarily shutting businesses. The country closed restaurants and pubs last week but left stores open for Christmas shopping.

Shops and services like hairdressing could close under new restrictions that the government will debate on Wednesday. School closures for older students, more-limited gatherings and stricter curfews could also be part the new round of tightening. Lockdown measures during the second wave of the pandemic have hit the economy, although analysts say not as hard as in the initial outbreak earlier this year when factory closures led to a record second-quarter contraction.

With cases on the rise again, the government wants to avoid stress on hospitals such as in October and November when daily infections and hospitalisations were higher and some care had to be limited. The seven-day rolling average of daily infections in the country of 10.7 million has risen to 7,021, the highest since mid-November. Hospitalisations are at 4,728, also slowly rising after steadily falling from above 8,000.

The death toll from the virus has climbed 15-fold to 10,562 since the start of October.

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