New Year’s Eve celebrations in the Czech Republic surprised the police and rescuers, they have not yet experienced such peace
The Czechia has not yet experienced such a New Year’s Eve. Due to strict anti-epidemic measures, there were no traditional outdoor celebrations. People adapted to the night curfew, and the main squares of the big cities were empty. Hundreds of police and police officers supervised compliance. Rescuers were almost out of work in Prague.
The end of the year caught the Czechia in the fifth, strictest anti-epidemic measure. Among other things, this means a curfew from 9 pm to 5 am, the closure of restaurants or hotels and the limitation of the number of participants in mass events to two people. Alcohol is also prohibited in public places.
nor do people associate New Year’s Eve celebrations with fireworks. This year, the situation complicated them not only, but also limited the number of places where firecrackers and flares can be used. This year, the management of Prague banned the use of fireworks in the center of the metropolis and in many other places.
Even due to the low number of people who move in the center of the capital, it is mostly observed. The explosions sounded only sporadically and sounded mainly from the surrounding neighborhoods. In the early evening, the police published pictures from Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Olomouc and Liberec with empty squares on their Twitter account.
There were only a few dozen people on Old Town Square in Prague before 6 pm, as was Wenceslas Square. Corrupt groups were mainly couples or families with children, which is not a very typical picture for the end of the year in the center. At other times, foreigners in particular visit the center in the early evening.
Even this year, it was not stated that many adults carried cups of hot drinks, but most of the people in the center had their mouths and noses consistently covered with a veil or other blanket and kept a gap. Short queues were sometimes created in front of the dispensing windows of the restaurant, excellent coffee, tea, or a punch and a welder. There were about ten such outlets on the Old Town Square, similar to Wenceslas Square.
The meeting organizer has ended. However, about 30 people remain on site. The police present the attention of the violation of the government’s crisis measure on the movement and stay of persons in publicly accessible places and call on them to leave Wenceslas Square. pic.twitter.com/97HpO48Ox5
– Police of the Czech Republic (@PolicieCZ) December 31, 2020
At around 7 pm, public rallies were held on Wenceslas Square in Prague and other cities to protest against government measures. According to the police, about 80 people gathered in Prague at one time. “Police officers had to detain several people because they disobeyed the calls,” police said on Twitter. Shortly after the demonstration began, according to their spokeswoman Violeta Siřišťová, the police cracked down on two participants who disobeyed the call and were vulgar. One of them ended up on the ground during the intervention.
After 9 pm, law enforcement officers completely closed Wenceslas Square due to protesters who refused to leave the site. They could only enter the people who live on it. Police officers, including the heavily-clothed, patrolled all approaches.
Dozens of police and rescue workers patrolled the Old Town Square, and around 9 pm their number significantly exceeded pedestrians. The streets of the metropolis gradually became depopulated after the beginning, and people did not return to them even with the arrival of midnight. Compared to the past, fireworks were not fired in the center of the capital, and paramedics in the Golem rescue truck, which stood on Wenceslas Square every year, did not treat a single patient.
Prague firefighters have also experienced one of the quietest New Year’s Eve nights in the last ten years. They intervened in only 18 fires caused by fireworks. Concerns that people would fire pyrotechnics from windows and balconies due to restrictions have not been confirmed. Only in Řepy, the firefighters checked the extinguished fire of paper debris after pyrotechnics on the balcony of one of the flats of the panel house, otherwise it was more of a small bush fire or liquidation of pyrotechnic debris.
We wish a Happy New Year from the Golem, where not a single patient has been preserved all evening, so we will start packing it slowly. Reinforcement crews will remain in operation throughout the night. ZOS reports about 80 events, as in a normal evening, in connection with the celebrations of 8 trips, “pyro injury” still only one. pic.twitter.com/YQv6I9xf1P
– ZZS HMP (@zzshmp) December 31, 2020
The center of Brno has also almost become depopulated, with only individuals or couples passing by in the streets or squares. Sometimes firecrackers seemed to sound. The rescue services also did not have to deal with anything extraordinary in connection with the celebrations until 19:00.
The minimum number of people was around Freedom Square around 7 pm, where people protesting against government measures against the spread of coronavirus were planned to meet at that time. According to its spokeswoman Kateřina Dobešová, the Brno-střed district did not report any demonstrations. Protesters convened over social networks. But the square was quiet, as in the wider center of Brno.
Other protests took place, for example, in Ostrava, where the police reported two dozen participants about 30 minutes after the start of the demonstration, as well as in Olomouc. Shortly after 8 pm, the police announced that the protests in Ostrava and Jihlava were over and that people were disputing in Olomouc. According to her, the protesters did not come to other places.
First an agreement, then a fine of up to 10,000
Stodolní Street in Ostrava during New Year’s Eve did not resemble anything known as the famous entertainment center. The street was practically empty, most of the dozens of businesses were dark. Only two bars offered drinks from the windows, but they also closed before 21:00. In addition, three refreshment outlets were opened in the street, which now also offer food delivery, but did not have any customers from the street in the evening.
From time to time, police patrols passed through the street, one of them checking the last customers who were waiting for a taxi in front of the closed bar. However, the policy did not have to deal with any complications, as at the beginning of December, when several companies remained open after the set closing time.
Current coloring of the map according to the anti – epidemic system PES on Thursday 31 December 2020 Photo: www.covdata.cz
Police officers in the Olomouc Region are trying to resolve possible non-compliance with the government regulation on New Year’s Eve, primarily by agreement. “The patrols will be strengthened similarly to previous years,” said police spokesman František Kořínek. If the agreement on the spot does not help, it may be time to hand over the offense to the administrative body or a fine of up to 10,000 crowns.
“There are no problems at all, people usually abide by government regulations. We only solved small things, nothing that would escape. The big square in Hradec Králové is empty,” said Eva Prachařová, a spokeswoman for the regional police, after 9 pm. The large square in the historical part of Hradec Králové would normally be the center of New Year’s Eve celebrations. In the early evening before the ban in the historic center of the city of a hundred thousand, small groups of people were paralyzed, and individuals stayed in front of some of the service windows of cafes and restaurants.
In recent days, there has been a growing interest in one-day visits to mountain areas. Ski resorts have been closed by government regulations, so people usually go hiking or sledding. Also focus attention there. Motorists often park in places that are not designed for it.
“In the Orlické Mountains, we have seen more parking in places where parking is prohibited. Parking vehicles in this way complicate the passage of vehicles of the integrated rescue system or road maintenance,” said spokeswoman Prachařová.