Residents of the Czech Republic will be required to wear two medical masks or special respirators at the same time in all public places with a high concentration of people. This was stated by the Minister of Health Jan Blatny, reports Expats.cz with reference to the Czech News Agency.
Respirators, masks with nanoparticles, or two ordinary surgical masks at once are required to wear in shops, public transport and any other public spaces. Cloth masks will no longer be considered protection. These measures are effective Monday.
The Czech authorities also announced that restrictions on the operation of stores continue to apply: only a part of them remain open, and they have strict rules of social distance. This is because the healthcare system is failing to cope with the coronavirus pandemic. Including, the government noted, the so-called “British strain” of the disease is raging in the Czech Republic.
Over the past day, according to the agency, more than 11.5 thousand new cases have been identified in the Czech Republic: this is the third day in a row when more than 10 thousand are found. The country’s hospitals are overloaded, more than 1.2 thousand patients with COVID-19 are in serious condition.
Using two masks at the same time is a well-known security enhancement measure. In early February, the head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Rochelle Walensky advised Americans to resort to it to protect against the disease.