You said in the Senate that the stores could open before Christmas. So when will they open?
Today, we cannot promise anyone whether it will be on 28 November or 5 December. But we see that the health situation is improving. The key is a pandemic indicator, and the moment we get to level three, it can open, albeit with some restrictions. I think it’s good. If we follow the rules, we will be able to start opening at the beginning of December.
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Will everything open, including service operations?
Our ambition is to open everything up. However, it depends on the degree of the epidemiological situation, according to the table that will be presented on Friday.
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Upon reaching the third category, it would open in shops and malls, as well as on the street. Our ambition is to open services and, with certain restrictions, restaurants.
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However, it is important to say that there will be certain hygienic and disinfection measures, the number of people in the premises will be dosed, the number of people at the table will be limited and the parameters in terms of disinfection will be observed.
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We must realize that it will not be Christmas like every year. But thanks to the fact that we have prepared measures against the infection relatively soon, we have a chance to make pre-Christmas shopping.
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If we start dosing in the sense of first these stores and then others, we will create a very unfair competitive environment.
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The crucial point here is that we have managed to agree on what was not supposed to be, and that all the shops will open at the same time.
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I cannot allow the stationery on the street to open fourteen days earlier than the stationery in the shopping center. If we did it before Christmas, we would ruin their business. That is why we prefer to say: let us impose tougher restrictions, but on everyone, in terms of the number of people in shops and so on. If we start dosing in the sense of first these stores and then others, we will create a very unfair competitive environment – and I do not want that.
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Will it open throughout the country or in the regions, depending on the situation?
This will be announced by the Minister of Health Jan Blatný. Apparently, he is still evaluating whether it would go across the board or across the regions. It’s his table, we just guarded the interests of industry and trade.
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Are you planning dedicated hours for retirement shopping again?
We will not make any allotted times for retirees. It didn’t work out at all.
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To do that, we must be in the third stage, as you say. What level are we in now?
The category is characterized by a mix of factors such as reproductive number, number of positive tested, percentage of positive of all tested. This will be evaluated on an ongoing basis. We are now approaching the fourth category, and if we continue like this, in our opinion, we could be in category number three at the turn of November and December. But it will depend on all of us, we have to do it together. We have two to three weeks to follow the rules. It can be seen, and people should be thanked, that the restrictions that have been here in recent weeks have been overcome by people, and as a result we have a relatively lower reproductive factor.
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You mentioned that restaurants would have a specific regime. What would it look like?
We suggest that people can be inside the establishment. But that still needs to be discussed. We suggest the possibility of open interior spaces, where guests could sit at one table in a limited number. The total number of people in the restaurant would also be limited. There could be fewer people than if the restaurant were full.
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Will hotels open? And what about leisure centers such as ski resorts and swimming pools?
As for swimming pools, they will have the same rules as for mass events, there will be restrictions on the number of people who will be able to be outside or inside at one time. To give an example: if it is possible to need ten people at mass events, this will also apply to swimming pools.
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We want to open the accommodation without restrictions from the third degree and skiing in my opinion should not be a problem.
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Are there operations that will not be able to open even in December?
Of course, for activities where there would be a lot of spectators, for example for cultural events, it can be assumed that this may not be manageable by Christmas. Some of it can be done, but crowds of many people in one place, so you can’t count on it much. This applies to cultural and sporting events.
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Some experts warn that after Christmas, when people will meet more, the number of infected will increase again. Would the new closing of trades come again?
That’s what no one wants. That is why we are cautious, and it is clear to me that not everyone will be enthusiastic about how this is done. If people follow the measures, we are out of it. But if they don’t follow them and rely on it to turn out somehow, then a situation will arise that it will swing for us again.
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This is addressed in every country. Every day I communicate with a minister from a European Union country and they deal with exactly the same things as us. They are dealing with Christmas and they are very worried about it, but they want to let it go to a certain extent.
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Do you plan to limit family reunions on Christmas or New Year’s Eve?
If we keep everything and it will develop as it is today, we can spend Christmas in relative peace. Of course with some dose of caution, but I don’t think people can’t meet.
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