By Sheji Halima

Prague, Feb. 9, 2022 (dpa/NAN) The Czech Republic, says  it is largely abandoning the pandemic rule which only allows vaccinated and recovered people access to certain areas.

The rule will be abolished not only in the restaurant and hotel sector, but also in other areas such as services and cultural and sporting events, the liberal-conservative Cabinet in Prague was decided on Wednesday.

The testing and proof requirements when entering the Czech Republic remained unaffected.

“We have the perspective that from March 1, we can get rid of most of the coronavirus restrictions,’’ said Prime Minister Petr Fiala.

In practice, only the requirement to wear a higher grade FFP2 mask would then apply.

However, this would also depend on the further development of the Omicron wave, the 57-year-old added.

The cabinet also decided that the number of possible participants in large events from Feb. 18, will be increased to 5,000 seated or 500 standing participants.

Some experts criticised the relaxations as premature.

According to official figures, there are 1,962 new Coronavirus infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the country neighbouring Germany within seven days.

(dpa/NAN)