Czech health care under pressure, hospitals hit virus record

There are over 8,100 people in Czech hospitals with covid-19, which is the most so far. Tuesday’s numbers show 8162 hospitalized, on Monday after the revision, even 8234. The previous record was 8155 covid patients from the beginning of November. The number of severe cases continues to rise, with the maximum shifting to 1,661 patients on Tuesday. It is a hundred more than on Sunday and six more than on Monday. On Tuesday, there were 16,642 cases of covid in the Czech Republic, which is the fourth-highest figure for the year of the epidemic. The current record is from January 6 and is about a thousand higher. This follows from updated data from the Ministry of Health.

The growth in the number of patients with covid and also the lack of medical staff in the Czech Republic lead to a situation where the capacity of intensive care is approaching exhaustion. In some regions, such as Plzeňský and Karlovarský, there are currently no vacancies for patients with covid in the ARO and ICU. In others, the capacity for depletion is approaching. Statistics hospitalized on the Ministry’s website do not include patients who do not show coronavirus signs after ten days, so the total number of occupied beds is higher. For example, out of about 4,000 beds in intensive care units and AROs in the Czech Republic, only 575 are now available, about 14 percent. One hundred fifty-six of them are intended for covid patients. Due to the hospitals’ critical situation, the Pardubice Region declared a state of mass disability on Tuesday afternoon.

The share of positive coronavirus tests rose to 44.6 percent on Tuesday from 31.4 percent on Monday. It was the last higher at the beginning of January. Compared to last Tuesday, the laboratories detected 800 more infections.

Since March 1 last year, when the first cases of coronavirus infection appeared in the Czech Republic, approximately 1.27 million cases of covid-19 have been recorded. There are currently about 155,000 people in the country. Since the beginning of the epidemic, 20,941 people have died with covid-19. In recent days, the number of deaths has increased by 170 to 180 daily.
Currently, covid-19 is the most widespread in the Tachov region, where 1,413 infected people per 100,000 inhabitants have increased in the last seven days. Kolínsko follows Tachovsk with 1300 infected in terms.

It has been vaccinated against coronavirus in the Czech Republic since the end of last December. Since then, more than 700,000 doses of vaccine have been given by Tuesday evening, and about 246,000 people have received both required amounts.

The reproduction number decreases on the fourth day in a row. To date, it has fallen by another three hundredths to 1.09 and is the lowest in the last 14 days. A value above one indicates a growing epidemic. The decrease in the reproductive number this time had the effect of reducing the anti-epidemic system score from 79 points to 76. It still corresponds to the strictest, the fifth degree, but only a point separates it from the fourth. At the end of last year, the index was governed by measures against the disease’s spread, but now its value is no longer relevant, according to the Ministry of Health. The primary indicator for the government is the occupancy of hospitals.

In the Czech Republic, people’s free movement between districts is restricted on the third day; restrictions, together with other restrictions, are to apply for three weeks. Companies with more than 250 employees must start testing employees from today.