“We must allow the climatic conditions to allow it, we will start wearing veils in trams and buses,” says Zdeňka Jágrová, director of the Hygiene Station of the Capital City of Prague, at a press conference on Thursday. However, when asked by journalists, she did not specify what the weather must be like. Will the temperature decide? Humidity of air?

“If the incidence of those infected rises, we will push for it as soon as possible,” Jágrová replied. “But if there’s no disaster, we’re not considering a shower,” the hygienist said.

Mayor Hřib added that “if a person is able to breathe, he should have a veil worn in the tram and bus”, although wearing veils in public transport is still only recommended.

And yet Jágrová realizes that access to veils divides society in half – someone would wear them everywhere, others do not want them at all – she pointed out that other European countries are taking similar measures: “The virus is here with us, we must defend. Veils are one of the few things that can reduce the spread of covid-19. “

Coronavirus in Prague
Number of hospitalized: 10 (of which two for pulmonary ventilation).

Therefore, it is possible that next week Prague will reach for new regulations, which may include mandatory drapes in closed public conditions, or restrictions on restaurant opening hours or a ban on visits to hospitals or homes for the elderly.

At the press conference, Hřib repeated, with the consent of the Chief Hygienist of Prague, that he did not snag Prague Prague into the second zone of the “covid” traffic light, which was introduced by the Ministry of Health under the leadership of Adam Vojtěch (for YES).

Mushroom: The traffic light is subjective. Hard data, answers Vojtěch

According to the mayor of Prague, the material contains several subjective measures that lack numerical quantification. “There are, for example, regions that have more infected per 100,000 inhabitants,” Hřib said, adding that the municipality would send comments to the ministry. Jágrová specified that the occurrence of community spread would have to be respected, when the hygienic station does not find the source of the infection. Another measure may be the number of people hospitalized with covid-19. “We have managed to maintain community spread around 20 percent in the long run,” but director Jágrová, although she admitted that the reproduction number is now 1.9.

A traffic light showing alert levels in connection with a covid is created by experts. Statistics and epidemiology. On hard data. There is no room for politics and whether someone likes it or not. Only the speeches of Mayor Hřib are subjective, not the criteria of the traffic light.

– Adam Vojtech (@adamvojtechano) July 30, 2020

Minister Vojtěch replied to the relentless criticism via a Twitter account as early as Thursday afternoon that the alert levels had been created by experts on the basis of hard data. “There is no room for politics here and whether someone likes it or not,” he wrote, adding that only Hřib’s speeches are subjective.

The mushroom also said again that the capital has enough protective equipment and therefore has “homework done by the government.” By the end of the week, a location should be selected for a collection point for self-payers – intended mainly for tourists. Prague also has quarantine beds for people who cannot be in solitary confinement anywhere else. Hygienists are also preparing a manual for schools to prepare for the September start of classes.

The capital’s security council also calls on the Ministry of Health to introduce an obligation to provide information on the current occupancy of hospital beds. “This will significantly help the Prague rescuers in placing patients, as was the case during the emergency,” explained Councilor Milena Johnová, who is in charge of health and social care.