We do not want to humiliate you, the opposition tells Vojtěch, whom he criticizes for the pandemic

While on Tuesday opposition deputies tried three times in vain to get a debate on the growing spread of coronavirus in the Czech Republic on the Chamber of Deputies’ agenda, on Wednesday they were already more fortunate. This is due to the fact that, despite the resistance of the YES movement, they supported the opposition according to voting protocol social democrats as well as communists.

Right from first performances it is clear that a number of opposition politicians consider the government’s approach to tackling coronavirus to be insufficient. Although the first speaker – pirate Jakub Michálek – pointed out that he did not want to use the debate in the Chamber of Deputies to humiliate the Minister of Health Adam Vojtěch, in his speech he blamed Vojtěch and members of the government for a number of mistakes.

“This June The Chamber of Deputies has given the government 11 tasks to prepare for the next wave of coronavirus. Unfortunately, the government did not meet several points at all, “said Michálek. He pointed out, for example, that the government has not been able to strengthen the hygienic stations by significantly more people in recent months, so they do not manage to trace infected people. how he wants to continue to do.

The opposition leaned on Prime Minister Andrej Babiš on Tuesday, when it tried to get a point on the topic of coronavirus into the Chamber’s agenda. “Mr. Prime Minister lied about the fact that like us we test, no one tests at all. This is a pretty lie, please. Last week he lied about how the hygiene is doing and how it doesn’t need any help,” complained Miroslav Kalousek, chairman of the TOP 09 club.

At that time, he was still speaking in the hall, where not only Minister Vojtěch was sitting, but also Prime Minister Babiš. On Wednesday afternoon, on the other hand, Vojtěch was sitting in the Chamber before the discussion of the whole item as one of the first, and the Prime Minister also came to the hall in some parts. From time to time, the Minister of the Interior and the Chairman of the CSSD, Jan Hamáček, took the government seats, pushing for the re-establishment of the Central Crisis Staff. The Prime Minister opposed it. “We have a debate on this within the government,” Hamáček said.

Hamáček criticizes “veil fighters”

Immediately after Michálek, Minister Vojtěch took the floor, who at the very beginning acknowledged the seriousness of the situation and the fact that he expected a later intensification of the virus. “The situation is certainly not good, that is an indisputable fact, there is no need to cover it up,” he began, immediately complaining that the atmosphere in society was also due to opposition to the use of veils. He also rejected Michálek’s criticism that he would do nothing.

“It is not true that we did nothing. We did not look at the wall. Since the beginning of the summer we have been preparing for the current situation, the government has prepared a smart quarantine strategy, we have strengthened hygiene stations by 134 places,” he said. 20,000 tests a day. “And we are counting on up to 25,000 a day. We are constantly increasing the capacity, we are constantly increasing the instrumentation. It can be seen that the test capacity has significantly improved. I hope that it will be appreciated,” Vojtěch defended. At the same time, he claimed that he was further increasing the consumption points.

“We are able to take around 17,000 samples. If we add mobile sampling points, we get to 20,000. There are a total of 134 sampling points and there will be even more,” said the minister, who spoke in a similar spirit for most of his speech. “It is a pity that past governments, such as the ODS, have reduced the number of workers in the sanitary service by 50 percent. This is a legacy of the past, when this service was not a priority.

At the same time, he announced that other measures would come, which would probably affect the organization of internal events where people stand. “It will always have to be a specific place to sit. It will not be possible to sell tickets for standing,” said Vojtěch.

He was followed by Minister Hamáček, who also admitted that the situation was not good. “The growth is rapid, very fast, in recent days it has the character of an exponential curve, we can get to spring Italy or present-day Israel very quickly,” said Hamáček, who praised the Ministry of Health for ordering the wearing of veils. He criticized all those who fought against wearing veils. “Where are all these fighters? They should be held accountable now. They are silent now,” Hamacek said, not wanting to shirk responsibility for the current situation.

Minister Vojtěch’s speech provoked outrageous reactions from several politicians, such as ODS chairman Petr Fiala.

“I think the speech can be summarized as follows: The situation is bad, but not so much. The opposition is to blame. It’s just as bad in other countries, so everyone is closing our borders. Hygiene is not catching up, but the government is to blame. from 2008. It will be worse, but it doesn’t matter, because now it’s actually quite good, but let’s get ready for it, “said Fiala, who, as on Monday, called on Vojtěch to resign.

“This request of ours is entirely appropriate. It is inevitable that the government will send a message to the public that the painting is ending in pink,” the ODS leader said. Unfortunately, it turns out that the government has wasted months and months. Unfortunately, it is clear that the Czech Republic is not ready for the second wave of coronavirus. I expect the Prime Minister to stop blaming the media and the opposition and to start listening instead of downplaying the situation, “he added.

Miroslav Kalousek, who was a member of this government, also criticized Vojtěch for mentioning the government in 2008. “Yes, the government actually reduced the number of health workers in 2008, let’s face it, it was a systemic error, I can’t judge. But if it was a systemic error, why hasn’t your government fixed the error in the last seven years?” Kalousek objected.