The Czech Republic will close its borders, including those with Slovakia, for all foreigners at midnight between Friday (January 29) and Saturday (January 30).
Until now, trips to the Czech Republic have been ruled by travel traffic lights, both for Czech citizens and arrivals of foreigners.
With this new decision, the travel traffic light ceases to apply.
Only essential travels will be allowed.
This means people working or studying in the Czech Republic, essential travels to family, medical facilities, nursing homes, wedding or funeral.
The ban is part of a series of new restrictive measures that are tightening the country’s lockdown.
They have been approved with a goal to further limit people’s contacts and movement.
Earlier in January, the day-to-day increase in coronavirus cases in the country was gradually declining since hitting a record high of nearly 18,000 on Jan 6.
But the numbers didn’t drop enough and started to rise again this week.
The government is also worried about the potential impact of the more contagious British variant on the health system, which has been under serious pressure for months.
The Czech health ministry recorded 7,937 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, up from 7,517 new cases reported on the same day a week earlier.
