There are queues in front of shops in Slovakia. It's like socialism, people say

This follows from the findings of ČTK and information from the Slovak media. From Monday, not only grocery stores, drugstores or pharmacies may be open in Slovakia, but also smaller shops with selected other goods, including gardening, haberdashery, hardware stores and shops for building and electrical installation materials.

Newly, however, operators of all open retail outlets only have to admit a limited number of people to the stores; At one point, each customer in the store must have at least 25 square meters of sales area.

According to TA3 television, the mentioned limit in Slovakia is the strictest in comparison with other countries. Merchants are also required to provide customers with disposable gloves or hand disinfectants and to arrange checkout clearances.

These rules have caused queues of customers with shopping carts to form in front of some stores, including grocery stores. It is still the case that three hours before noon, the shops are reserved for buyers over the age of 65, who according to the authorities are the most vulnerable group in connection with coronavirus.

The return of socialism, Slovaks joke

The existing queues in front of the shops took advantage of some satirical websites that published photos from the socialist period, which captured long lines in front of the shops.

Slovak traders have previously seen higher customer interest in certain types of goods in connection with coronavirus. According to Denník E, the leading retail network Tesco has now temporarily employed 850 people in Slovakia to cover the increased customer demand for food and online shopping.

The possibility of opening more stores and at the same time tightening the conditions of sale at the weekend was announced by Prime Minister Igor Matovic. Retail representatives urged the government and the crisis staff to discuss the planned measures and not learn about them from press conferences.

For example, in order to slow down the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, Slovakia has closed schools, a number of various service providers and banned the organization of mass cultural, social or sporting events. By the end of last week, state laboratories in a country of five million under the Tatras had found 336 infected. According to the media, the authorities expect the peak of the pandemic in Slovakia in mid-July.

The shopping panic in the Czech Republic has stopped

Domestic traders also called on the government to consult with them on their actions next time. In the Czech Republic, the shopping panic is over. According to the Confederation of Trade and Tourism, store attendance fell by an average of 30 percent last week. The president of the union, Tomáš Prouza, assured that there are no problems with food supplies. He also predicted that the measures enforced by the government would cost traders hundreds of millions of crowns.

"Agriculture, food and trade have shown incredible viability and adaptability to extreme conditions in recent weeks. The costs of securing the supply of the population in this period will go to hundreds of millions of crowns in the area of ​​trade alone, food producers also have higher costs, "he said.