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The legendary Czech traveller, ethnographer and writer Miloslav Stingl has died at the age of 89. During his lifetime, Mr Stingl visited 151 countries, recording his experiences in more than 40 books, which influenced generations of readers. His main focus of interest was the life and rituals of indigenous peoples, such as the Mayas, Polynesians and Inuits.

Thousands of Czech medical students pitched in to help during the coronavirus crisis in the Czech Republic. Some were called on by the government to perform mandatory service in state run hospitals, old age homes and emergency services, but the vast majority volunteered of their own accord, and now say the experience gained was invaluable.

The National Heritage Institute is seeking to annul a zoning decision allowing for a massive mixed-use building complex around Masarykovo nádraží, Prague’s oldest functioning railway station. Hundreds have joined a petition launched by conservationists to reverse the decision, which they argue gives Czech-Slovak project developer Penta too much space to change the skyline.

Czech pianist Ivo Kahánek and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra have received the highly acclaimed BBC Music Magazine’s Concerto Award for 2020. Their interpretations of concertos by the great Czech composers Antonín Dvořák and Bohuslav Martinů were described as “exhilarating” and “up there with the greatest”, with the 40–year–old pianist praised for “a clear-textured performance of rare delicacy”. I asked Mr Kahánek how he felt after receiving the prize.

The Prague-based foundation Hatikva Josefov has started to ship medical equipment, including face masks and face shields, to the Jewish community in New York, one of the U.S. cities most heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The man behind the initiative is Aaron Günsberger, owner of a well-known Prague Kosher restaurant. He says he got the idea while organizing help for the Jewish community in the Czech Republic.

Among the many businesses and organisations allowed to reopen in the Czech Republic on Monday have been cinemas. Strict restrictions aimed at curbing Covid-19 are in place, leading some movie theatres to remain closed for now. But other operators, and filmmakers, have welcomed the change.

The Prague Spring, the biggest classical music event in the Czech Republic, attracts top international orchestras and soloists every year. The 75th edition gets underway on Tuesday. However, due to the coronavirus situation, the festival will take a very different form this year, with no audiences in attendance and concerts being streamed online. I spoke to the festival’s spokesman Pavel Trojan on the eve of the 2020 edition.

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.