The Czech government is likely to impose significantly stricter social-distancing rules to curb the European Union's worst coronavirus surge _ without crippling the economy, according to the finance minister.
The cabinet will on Monday decide on more steps to limit human contacts after it banned cultural and sports events, shut some schools and ordered bars and restaurants to close at 8 p.m., Alena Schillerova said on Czech Television. She added the new "blanket measures" will represent an "improved version" of the full lockdown the central European country experienced in the spring.
Prime Minister Andrej Babis's administration is struggling to contain a jump in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths after it removed social-distancing rules in the summer and fully reopened schools last month. The nation reported a record 8,618 new infections on Friday and has leapfrogged Spain as the EU's top hotspot based on the two-week cumulative number of cases per capita.
"We will have to very fundamentally restrict gatherings," Schillerova told the public-service broadcaster, adding "we won't shut down the economy, we won't shut down the manufacturing industry."
When asked if shopping malls will be closed, she said "we have yet to see."
