Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer of the German state of Saxon, located near the border of the Czech Republic, called for people not to go shopping, skiing, or refuel their cars in the Czech Republic due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He also stated that the provincial authorities will monitor compliance with the mandatory quarantine more closely. Shopping trips between Saxony and the Czech Republic are forbidden, but some people do not respect the restrictions.
Saxony will also ask the German Federal Police for more frequent random checks on the border with the Czech Republic and Poland. If the Federal Police finds possible breaches of the quarantine rules, the information is passed on to the German Public Health Office. The Federal Police told Czech News Agency that fines in this area are within the competence of the provincial authorities, including the local Public Health Office.
Cross-border shopping is prohibited, but some people do not respect the restrictions. Moreover, due to the serious epidemic situation, Saxony has decided to further tighten hygiene conditions.
According to Kretschmer, those who leave for the Czech Republic will have to quarantine for at least ten days.
“We will enforce this rule,” he said after Monday’s meeting with the industry representatives.
The Saxon prime minister called on the Saxons to abide by the rules at a time when the German media, including the most widely read daily Bild, pointed out that Czechs still go to Saxony for shopping, although such trips are no longer allowed.
Saxony is now the worst in Germany in terms of new cases per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days. According to statistics from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), there are 319 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants in Saxony in seven days. In no other German country does this indicator exceed the value of 200. Two Saxon districts, Bautzen and Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains, which border the Czech Republic, have reported over 500 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days.
Title image: Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (Facebook)
