PRAGUE (Reuters) -The Czech government has approved plans to only allow those who are vaccinated against COVID-19 or have recovered from the illness in the past six months into restaurants, events and other services from Monday, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Thursday.
The government had flagged the new measures this week as the country battles a surge in COVID-19 cases and seeks to boost vaccination numbers in the nation of 10.7 million.
The state will also require testing for COVID-19 at companies as part of new measures, similar to a set-up it had earlier this year during the last major wave of the pandemic.
The country had a record 22,511 cases on Tuesday. Hospitals have been filling up, although the number of patients, at about 4,500, is still at about half of the peaks seen in March.
The country’s vaccination rate is below the European Union average, with 58% of the total population inoculated.
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka and Jason Hovet; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Bernadette Baum)
