Republic and Slovakia are only countries in Europe to make coronavirus mask-wearing mandatory

This article is more than 5 months old

This article is more than 5 months old

Czech citizens have mobilised in a national effort to make and distribute home-made masks after the government decreed face-wear mandatory for everyone in an effort to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

The government, led by the prime minister, Andrej Babiš, has trumpeted mask-wearing as vital in controlling the spread of the virus and has urged other governments to follow suit.

The Czech Republic and neighbouring Slovakia are the only two countries in Europe to impose mandatory mask-wearing, the supposed benefits of which – although endorsed by the World Health Organization – are disputed by some.

The arguments in favour are explained in a government-sponsored video that features an appearance by the Czech health minister. Adam Vojtěch.

“The Czech Republic is one of the few in Europe that has significantly slowed down the spread of the virus,” the narrator says. “The main difference is that everyone who has to leave their house has to wear a mask.”

In an effort to set a public example, Babiš and other politicians have addressed parliament and made national television appearances wearing masks.

But rather than provide the masks itself, the government has relied on the initiative of ordinary Czechs to ensure compliance with a rule issued days after a general emergency was declared that sealed the central European country’s borders and closed all but essential shops and services – a move that transformed the tourist hub of Prague into a virtual ghost town.

Pharmacies have put up signs declaring that they do not provide specially made surgical masks, which are already in short supply for health professionals.

Fashion students at Umprum Academy of Art, Architecture and Design in Prague were spurred into action after a plea was posted on Facebook for masks for one of the city’s biggest maternity hospitals, Podoli.

“The students are making hundreds and hundreds of masks,” said Alice Klouzkova, an assistant and teacher at the academy’s fashion design studio. “Most of them have sewing machines at home and are happy to work with their hands. It’s important that the material is made with 100% cotton so it can be sterilised.”

One website, Damerousky.cz, offers an interactive map for those offering or looking for masks, while a collecting point has been set up at Prague city hall and other municipalities to distribute masks to vulnerable groups.

The effort has been almost universally embraced – although there have been instances of people lowering their masks in public parks to smoke, or to drink beer outside the few pubs still serving takeaway beer.

Some have flouted the rule in less conventional ways. Police reported sunbathers at a nudist spot outside Prague failing to comply with the rule, while ignoring a separate ordnance forbidding gatherings of more than two people.

The initiative’s popularity prompted Babiš on Sunday to urge Donald Trump on Twitter to adopt a similar approach in the US. “Mr. President @realDonaldTrump, try tackling virus the Czech way. Wearing a simple cloth mask, decreases the spread of the virus by 80 %! Czech Republic has made it OBLIGATORY for its citizens to wear a mask in the public. Pls retweet. God bless America!”

That in turn triggered criticism that the government imposed the rule without taking steps to provide masks. “You made it obligatory (like Taiwan) but didn’t provide us with a single mask (unlike Taiwan), so we were obliged to sew our own,” one tweet said in response.

As of 29 March, 2,829 Covid-19 cases had been recorded in the Czech Republic, resulting in 16 deaths, with 40,700 tests having been conducted.