The Czech government said Friday it would ban people from leaving their districts from March 1 as coronavirus infections kept soaring in the world's worst-hit country. It also ordered people to wear face masks in busy workplaces and outdoors in inhabited areas, and closed all schools and shops selling non-essential goods. To leave their district, people must prove they are going to work, to a doctor or to take care of their relatives. Shopping is possible only within districts, while sports and walks will only be allowed within the home town or city. Interior Minister Jan Hamacek said the measures would be in force for three weeks, adding the police would carry out random checks. "The only goal is to reverse the rising curve of new infections and patients in intensive care before it's too late," he told reporters. The cabinet also declared a new, month-long state of emergency to legally underpin the moves, starting on February 28. A curfew, a limit on gatherings, and restaurant closures have been in place since last year. The country tops the world in terms of new infections per 100,000 people over the last 14 days and is second only to neighbouring Slovakia in deaths, according to an AFP tally. Billionaire populist Prime Minister Andrej Babis admitted his cabinet had made mistakes battling the virus, including poor communication, but asked people for "one more chance". "In the next three weeks, we need people to behave like they did in March 2020" when the country weathered a first wave relatively well, Babis added. Grappling with recurrent upswings since last summer and now with the fast-spreading British strain, the EU member of 10.7 million people has seen 1.2 million coronavirus cases and 20,000 deaths. Daily new infections are running at around 15,000, which Health Minister Jan Blatny said he expected to grow to some 20,000 soon. So far just over 600,000 vaccine doses have been administered with EU supplies hitting bottlenecks. Sociologist Daniel Prokop warned the new measures would not help, saying they failed to address the fact the virus is spreading mainly within families and at work. "Some 37 percent of Czechs work in industry and they need to go to work... while only 15 percent of Czechs are in home office," he told AFP. On Tuesday, the health ministry said intensive care wards were reaching capacity and the entire health system was close to its limit. The government has asked its neighbours for help, starting talks with Germany and Poland, which has already agreed to take ten Covid-19 patients from Slovakia. Slovakia also voted on Friday to extend its state of emergency until March 19. frj/tgb