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The Criterion Collection, a prestigious US film distributor, recently launched a collection of digitally restored films by the pioneering Czech animator Karel Zeman. The reviews are in – so to speak – as a new generation of movie buffs discover his influence on the likes of Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam, and auteurs like Tim Burton, Wes Anderson and the Brothers Quay.

Czech researchers have started looking for traces of the coronavirus in wastewater. A laboratory in Brno is currently testing samples from two dozen wastewater plants around the Czech Republic. The monitoring could be used to reveal the scale of a coronavirus outbreak and also as an early warning of fresh outbreaks.

Microbreweries are among the businesses hardest hit by the coronavirus lockdown in the Czech Republic. Due to the closure of restaurants, demand for their beer dropped significantly from one day to the next. To save hectolitres of craft beer from destruction, the owner of the Kytín brewery in Central Bohemia launched an initiative called Zachraň pivo or Save the Beer. It was promptly joined by over 300 microbreweries from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

A government-commissioned collective immunity study aimed at establishing the level of Covid-19 infection within the population shows that the prevalence of the virus is in the order of “units per mille”. The result rules out the option of relying on “herd immunity” in the event of a second wave of the pandemic.

Archaeologists have made a unique discovery in the Milevsko monastery in South Bohemia. While creating a 3D scan of the monastery complex, they unearthed a secret corridor with an extended end hidden behind a massive medieval wall. It may have served as a safe for valuables concealed from raids by Hussite troops in the early 15th century.

Prague’s Lord Mayor and two colleagues – all of whom have taken symbolic steps angering the Kremlin in recent months – are currently under 24-hour police protection due to credible threats against their lives. Czech officials have confirmed that a Russian secret service agent arrived in Prague this March travelling on a diplomatic passport. They have not said whether, as reported, the agent had the deadly toxin ricin in his briefcase, or if the mayors were targets.

Two clouds hang over commemorations marking the 75th anniversary of the Prague Uprising against Nazi rule at the end of the Second World War. The first is an “invisible enemy” – the novel coronavirus – which has scuppered grand plans to honour those who fought to liberate the Czech capital. The second is the allegation of a plot to assassinate two Prague district mayors: one who tore down a statue to a Soviet marshal who Russia considers a hero; and one who erecting a statute to a Red Army general who Russia considers a traitor.

The Czech Republic has joined the worldwide race to develop vaccine against Covid-19, the Czech Ministry of Health announced on Monday. The development of the vaccine, which is currently in its first, laboratory phase, is likely to take months and is expected to cost tens of millions of crowns.

The coronavirus epidemic in the Czech Republic is abating, the nation’s top health authorities said on Thursday. The number of new infections is projected to slow to 15 per day in May, and the number overall number of cases to total 8,500 by month’s end.

Thursday evening will see the traditional witch-burning celebration in many parts of the Czech Republic. While the night of April 30 is normally an excuse for large gatherings, this time it is affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The government has called for smaller celebrations in family circles, while the fire service, whose resources are already extended, have asked the public to register their bonfires online.