PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech Republic has taken its first steps toward easing a tight lockdown. The Czechs are allowed again to travel to other counties and a night-time curfew has ended. Children up to the fifth grade returned Monday to school under strict conditions. All have to wear face masks and be tested twice a week. Stores selling children’s clothes and shoes, outdoor farmers’ markets, zoos and botanical gardens were among venues allowed to reopen Monday. Health experts, however, warned that the relaxation was going too far as infection and death rates still remain at dangerously high levels. Despite a decline in new cases of COVID-19, the Czech Republic still has the fourth highest infection rate per capital in the European Union.
