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As a follow up to our previous alerts here and here, please find below a summary of measures adopted by the Czech government in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the Czech Republic, with effect from 16th March 2020.

Closed Borders

As of Monday, 16 March 2020, 0:00 a.m., Czech borders are closed.

This means that all Czech citizens as well as foreign nationals who have a temporary (over 90 days) or a permanent residence permit are banned from travelling outside the Czech Republic. At the same time, foreign nationals (except for holders of a temporary or a permanent residence permit) are banned from entering the Czech Republic.

There are some exceptions to these restrictions, in particular:

  • workers in international transport: lorry drivers, bus drivers, transport aircraft crews, train drivers, train crews and wagon examiners, ship’s captains and crew members, crews of road maintenance vehicles; and drivers of vehicles for less than 10 persons who transfer any of these categories for the purpose of performance of their activities;
  • diplomats and officials of international organizations;
  • members of rescue services, such as fire brigade, rescue service and mountain rescue service, police in performance of their duties and other services of the integrated rescue system;
  • cross-border workers working within 100 km from the national border;
  • experts in the fight against epidemics, humanitarian and medical aid;
  • Members of the European Parliament;
  • minors under the age of 18 if his/her parent is a citizen of the Czech Republic, and a parent of a minor who is a Czech citizen under the age of 18 and the other parent is also a Czech citizen;
  • persons in unpredictable extraordinary situations (e.g. persons transferring blood, bone marrow for the purpose of transplantation, and transplantation centre collection teams transporting organs for transplantation);
  • persons undergoing surgery or serious medical treatment abroad because of a serious medical condition, persons giving birth (an exemption also applies to a father of a child – if he proves this fact);
  • workers in critical infrastructure, critical IT infrastructure and energy infrastructure and workers providing maintenance of such infrastructure;
  • a citizen of the Czech Republic who is going to pick up his/her family member (children, parents, spouses) at an international airport after presenting a ticket/boarding pass;
  • EU citizens or foreigners with a residence permit in another EU Member State transiting through the Czech Republic territory – this must be evidenced by a signed affidavit.

Quarantine

As of 16 March 2020, 0:00 a.m. until 24th March, 6:00 a.m., the government has restricted the free movement of persons in the Czech Republic, with the exception of:

  • travel to work;
  • travel to medical facilities;
  • necessary visits by relatives;
  • journeys necessary to meet basic necessities of life: purchases of food, medicines, sanitary and medical supplies or animal feed;
  • taking care of children and animals;
  • routes required for refuelling, necessary financial and postal services;
  • urgent official matters, including the escort of close persons;
  • visits to the countryside or parks (either solely or with a household member) – this exemption does not cover outdoor gatherings with friends, etc.
  • escorting relatives to a doctor;
  • visits to a veterinarian;
  • attendance at a funeral;
  • journeys for the purpose of: provision of health and social care including volunteering, supply and delivery services.

Employers are recommended to (i) allow home office to the maximum possible extent, if the employees may work from home, (ii) allow vacation and paid leave for employees, and (iii) cease activities that are not crucial for the employer’s operations.

Furthermore, all stores and service providers (apart from groceries, drugstores, pharmacies, petrol stations, post offices, banks and several other minor exceptions) will be closed until 24 March 2020, 6 a.m.

Author

Martin Hrodek is the managing partner of the Firm’s Prague office, where he also heads the Dispute Resolution Practice Group. He is consistently ranked as a leading dispute lawyer in the Czech Republic by Chambers & Partners. In addition to his practice, Mr. Hrodek authored a section on Czech merger control regulations in The Global Merger Notification Handbook and has published several articles on the rights of minority shareholders and dispute resolution in major Czech periodicals, including Hosdoparske noviny and Ekonom.

Author

Zuzana Ferianc practices mainly in the areas of employment and labor law, restructuring and corporate governance and mergers & acquisitions. She earned her Master’s Degree in Commercial Law at the Economics University in 2002, and her Master’s Degree in Law at the Law Faculty of Charles University in 2004.

Author

Jana Turečková is a member of the Employment & Compensation and Dispute Resolution practice groups in Prague. She focuses on labor law and represents clients in court proceedings and arbitrations.