The government has decided to extend restrictions on public movement until 1 April, and has also approved further steps to support employers

Restrictions on free movement and public stays will apply until at least 06:00 on 1 April 2020. On Monday 23 March 2020, the government decided to extend the emergency measure against the spread of the coronavirus. During the video conference, ministers also approved other anti-crisis measures to support employers, farmers and the self-employed. The government will submit to the Chamber of Deputies for its approval a new state budget deficit for the current year of 200 billion crowns.

The extraordinary measure from the government following the declaration of the state of emergency, limiting freedom of movement and residence of persons until Tuesday, 24 March 2020, with certain exceptions, will now be extended until 06:00 on 1 April due to developments in the coronavirus pandemic in the Czech Republic. As of the same date, all other emergency measures still in force have been prolonged, such as restricting, for example, retail and service sales, prohibiting the presence of the public in restaurants, restricting the operation of offices, and cancelling payment in blue parking zones.

After the discussion, the government proceeded to further adjust the time reserved for shopping by seniors and holders of ZTP/P (disabled person with escort) cards older than 50 years and their escort. Starting on Wednesday, 25 March, the ban on other people's access to stores will be extended to the period from 08.00 to 10:00, and will now only apply to retail stores selling foodstuffs, sanitary goods, cosmetics and other drugstore goods with a sales area of more than 500 m². In smaller stores with this range, sellers are instructed to give sales priority to senior citizens and the disabled.

In a state of legislative emergency, the Government has prepared and approved several extraordinary legislative standards that will be submitted for accelerated proceedings by the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The Ministry of Finance has elaborated a draft amendment to the Act on the State Budget of the Czech Republic for 2020, which, with regard to the expected loss of income and increase in expenditures in connection with measures taken to help the Czech economy and workers,  expects the state budget deficit to increase from the original CZK 40 billion to CZK 200 billion. For further information, see the Ministry of Finance press release at  https://www.mfcr.cz/cs/aktualne/tiskove-zpravy/2020/vlada-schvalila-novelu-zakona-o-statnim-37959 .

The government will also submit a bill to Parliament to forgo the minimum compulsory pension insurance payments for six months for self-employed workers. Some 1 million self-employed persons will benefit from this relief, with the period from March to August counting as normal towards their pension insurance. More information in the press release of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs at https://www.mpsv.cz/web/cz/-/stat-zrejme-odpusti-zivnostnikum-cast-povinneho-duchodoveho-pojisteni-schvalila-to-vlada.

Similarly, compulsory sickness insurance payments are to be the subject of relief for sole traders by an extraordinary amendment to the Public Health Insurance Act.

At an extraordinary session of the Chamber of Deputies tomorrow, deputies will also receive for debate a bill on certain adjustments in the area of sales records in connection with the declaration of the state of emergency. In it, the government proposes postponing the launch of the final phase of electronic sales records until three months have elapsed since the end of the state of emergency and for the same time wants to exempt businesses liable to use EET from the obligation to use authentication data, a sales records certificate and receipt block to prevent their abuse.

The government has also adopted a so-called liberation package, which proposes, inter alia, that entrepreneurs will be waived the June advance payments for corporate and personal income tax, introducing the institution of retroactive effect of tax losses and proposing to postpone the deadline for filing tax return for acquired real estate assets tax to 31 August 2020. A summary of tax reliefs is given in the Ministry of Finance press release at https://www.mfcr.cz/cs/aktualne/tiskove-zpravy/2020/ulevy-v-danove-oblasti-se-rozsiri-37943.

A proposal to postpone and change the organisation of the state school leaving examination and the uniform secondary schools entrance examinations, prepared by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, will also be heading to Parliament. The uniform entrance examination would be over only a single round and will take place at least 14 days after the end of the ban on school attendance. This year, the state part of the school-leaving examination should be limited to didactic tests only, i.e. without written papers in Czech and a foreign language, and exceptionally their results will be evaluated directly by the school concerned. For details, see the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports press release at http://www.msmt.cz/ministerstvo/novinar/msmt-pripravilo-reseni-pro-prijimaci-zaverecne-a-maturitni.

Ministers also approved further steps within the Antivirus programme of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. Employers who are currently unable to allocate work to employees due to quarantine or childcare for a significant proportion of employees, and who prove that they cannot manufacture because of the limited availability of necessary inputs or that the reason for interruption of their business activity is reduced demand for their products or services, will now received state financial compensation. More detailed information on the approved conditions for assistance can be found in the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs press release at https://www.mpsv.cz/web/cz/-/podpora-firem-v-programu-antivirus-pokracuje-vlada-schvalila-dalsi-navrhy-ministryne-malacove.

Ministers also approved aid for farmers affected by the coronavirus epidemic. For example, the measure will allow for the postponement of repayments under commercial loans provided by the Support and Guarantee Farm and Forestry Fund or to provide guaranteed support for operational financing. The Ministry of Agriculture also submitted to the Government draft measures in the agriculture, food and forestry sector to minimise the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the whole sector and on society as a whole. The proposed steps, such as increasing national resources in the Rural Development Programme and making maximum use of European subsidies to reduce the impact of the coronavirus crisis, aim to maintain crop and livestock production at a level that avoids fatal impacts on Czech producers. More in the Ministry of Agriculture press release at http://eagri.cz/public/web/mze/tiskovy-servis/tiskove-zpravy/x2020_ministr-toman-musime-udrzet-chod.html.

The government has once more discussed the issue of cross-border “commuters”. The current set-up of this regime has been the subject of much criticism from the mayors and governors of the municipalities and regions affected, because these “commuters” working in risk areas have often ignored the strict restrictions on movement, following their return to the Czech Republic. Ministers have therefore approved another change to this regime, so that employees working near the border will have to automatically undergo a 14-day quarantine upon their return to the Czech Republic.

In practice, this means that those seeking such work will have to find temporary accommodation at the location of that employment. This measure will not as yet apply to persons working in Slovakia and Poland, where the epidemiological situation is not as critical as in Germany and Austria.

The government has also decided to abolish charges for sending data messages from 24 March until further notice, in support of remote forms of contact with authorities and institutions. The necessary information can be found at https://www.mvcr.cz/docDetail.aspx?docid=22241320&doctype=ART.

The government has also approved the decision of the Minister of Health to lift the ban on direct international flights from the Republic of Korea to all Czech airports, as this ban became meaningless after a general ban on the entry of all foreigners into the Czech Republic was adopted on 13 March 2020. Ministers have also approved an increase in the funding for salaries for employees of the Regional Hygienic Stations and the Hygiene Stations of the City of Prague so that they can be adequately paid for overtime.

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