Prague and COVID-19
Like in most countries, things happened very fast in the Czech Republic. We saw our first three cases of COVID-19 recorded on the 1st of March. Two weeks later our lives came to a screeching halt on the 14th of March 2020. The government announced a statewide state of emergency on the 12th of March and two days later closed all non-essential businesses. As our borders closed, regular buses, train lines, and flights were cancelled and it became harder for Czechs living abroad to return home, repatriation buses and flights were organised by the government to allow Czechs to come back. As these buses started going to and from nearby countries, live streams of bus drivers in full protective equipment blasting Cher all the way to Munich started occupying our Facebook feeds. In short, and as always, Czechs kept their dry sense of humour and got on with it.
I think that most people want to be home in a time of crisis — I was no exception. I am one of the Czechs who returned home from living abroad in London. The UK recorded its first case on the 31st of January, several weeks before the Czech Republic recorded its first patient. Personally, I did not know what to make of the fact that my home country shut everything down including its borders while everything in the UK was running like nothing was happening. It was becoming increasingly clear to me that I could be stuck in a country whose government was willing to risk people’s lives only to keep the Brexit ravaged economy running. And so, I packed my bags to return home on a commercial flight from Heathrow, London for what I thought was going to be a month. To the date of the 11th of June, it will have been 11 weeks.
Over these 7 weeks, my entire life has been conducted online over Zoom. I am a master’s student at UCL and a part-time designer at a UK charity. Had the pandemic not hit, in the last 7 weeks I would have attended countless lectures, meetings, tutorials, dinners, parties and I would have gone to Colombia for a research trip. Instead, I have attended countless Zoom lectures, Zoom meetings, Zoom tutorials, Zoom dinners, Zoom parties and I am currently completing my research trip online too. If I were prone to believing in conspiracy theories I would join a Reddit board dedicated to how Zoom is actually behind the pandemic.
Prague, tourists and the pandemic
I come from a suburb of Prague — a city I feel immensely proud of. Prague is known as the heart of Europe and the city of a hundred towers. It has attracted a steady flow of tourists ever since it became a democratic country at the beginning of the 1990s. It is a city known for a thousand years of architecture unravaged by wars or fires, and endless groups of tourists.
While tourism is one of Prague’s most important incomes — people from Prague, especially those living in the city centre are less than thrilled to see (and hear) loud stag-dos prancing around Old Town at night and during the day masses of tourists from everywhere flooding the streets, bringing up the prices in the area. Airbnb has priced out many locals from the city centre and hiked up restaurant prices that have made their first spoken language English rather than Czech in most of Old Town.
So what has COVID-19 done for tourism? In short, tourism stopped overnight and with it loud stag-dos and street flooding tourist groups. Instead, there were only empty streets, locals and facemasks present. Unused Airbnb flats in the city centre were put up for long-term rentals by their owners for as much as 80% of their original rental value (reported by seznamzpravy.cz 7/5/2020) and restaurants were filled with Czech speaking clientele.
And then the restaurants closed. Some restaurants have “window service” letting people buy food, wine and beer to go. The restaurant closure spurred on the roll-out of online platforms to accelerate food delivery systems. The lockdown has gone on for so long that even some Micheline starred restaurants started delivering.
Facemasks, community and innovation
Most European countries have implemented social distancing. Unlike Sweden or Germany, the Czech government opted for a lockdown which has been implemented and lifted in phases. As the lockdown closed many businesses many companies and institutions have rallied and started making protective equipment.
Aside from social distancing, the government also ordered everyone to wear a facemask when outside the home. As our stock of facemasks shortened, volunteers started sewing facemasks and various organisations started 3D printing protective equipment for healthcare workers and senior homes. Many companies that had to stop their activities and instead of putting their employees on unpaid leave, have decided to pay their employees to sew and deliver facemasks from their homes.
There have been several cases of innovation that have made international news. Most notably there are two organisations that really made a mark in the fight against COVID-19 — Technical University of Liberec and Prusa Research.
The Technical University of Liberec specialises in material research and in light of the pandemic began manufacturing facemasks from nano textiles which, according to laboratory testing, stop 99% of viruses. These facemasks were sent to hospitals and healthcare facilities, focusing on those on the front lines.
Prusa Research is a manufacturer of 3D printers that put their printers to work creating face shields for hospitals and releasing a template for face shields that could be further used by anyone with a 3D printer. Numerous Technical universities began 3D printing face shields on mass in order to meet local supply demands.
Easing of lockdown
We are allowed to meet in groups of up to 10 as of the end of April but while we are allowed out of our homes, facemasks and face shields are here to stay. Barbershops, shopping malls and beer gardens were the first to open on the 11th of May, however, all are accessible strictly with a facemask. Who knows how long protective equipment will be here to stay while we cautiously restart our lives.
