PRAGUE (AP) — Czech police and military forces have set up 500 checkpoints across the country to enforce new strict limits on free movement. Some 30,000 officers were involved in an unprecedented operation that bans people from traveling to other counties unless they go to work or have to take care of relatives. It’s part of a series of measures that took effect Monday to slow down the spread of a highly contagious virus variant first found in Britain. The government says the goal is to prevent hospitals from collapsing under the strains of caring for coronavirus patients. The Czech Republic is one of the European Union’s hardest-hit countries in the latest surge of infections and deaths.
