Starting Friday, an organized weekend inspection of nightclubs across the Czech Republic will begin. More than 100 police officers and hygienists will be checking whether visitors and staff at nightclubs are complying with the anti-virus measures. The owner of a music club in Prague’s Dejvice district, Tomas Weigl, said he tried to comply with the measures but would not forcibly pull people off the dance floor.
The inspectors check whether people observe the minimum spacing, whether they are wearing respirators and dancing. At the La Fuenta club in Dejvice, the operators try to follow all the rules, but it isn’t easy.
“For us, nothing has changed. We try to comply with all measures 100 percent of the time. We try to alert people, we have disinfectants everywhere, security is alerted to try to reach out to people whether they are tested or vaccinated, ” said club owner Weigl.
“If someone shows us a test or vaccination certificate, it’s only voluntary. Otherwise, we do nothing with it,” he noted. Signs are posted throughout the venue warning people to follow the precautions, and the dance floor is empty.
According to Weigl, however, people are “fortunately” behaving normally. “Most of the time, they comply with everything. But for me, forcing someone to leave the dance floor is wrong. They should be responsible for themselves and comply with what is there, ” the owner continued.
Although the nightclubs may have opened, it is not business as usual as before the pandemic. “We are not back to our roots. People don’t go to nightclubs to drink coffee, have dessert, and talk. This is where people go to parties, and if they are prevented from doing that, it doesn’t work, ” said Weigl.