Czech Republic reports 2,932 new COVID-19 cases

New daily coronavirus cases in the Czech Republic returned to close to 3,000 on Wednesday. Hygienists detected 2,932, which was the third-highest daily number since the beginning of the spread of COVID-19 in the Czech Republic in March. The total number since the beginning of the epidemic exceeds 72,000. According to the Ministry of Health, there are currently 37,393 people infected, and the disease is mild in most of them.

So far, 34,093 people have recovered from the disease. On the contrary, 676 died, ten of them today. The September number of 240 deaths exceeded the current maximum of 206 deaths from coronavirus in April.

According to the ministry’s latest data, 1,028 people with COVID-19 are hospitalized, almost six times more than at the beginning of September. The number of people in serious condition has increased fivefold to 198 per month. Their number dropped slightly on Wednesday. The share of infected people who ended up in hospital in the total number of currently ill patients is about 2.8 percent on average.

Minister of Health Roman Prymula said in the Chamber today that forty percent of patients hospitalized with COVID have almost no clinical symptoms, and their disease is entirely insignificant. For example, these people stay in hospitals because they cannot remain in social care facilities. According to the Minister, it is challenging to create conditions in these facilities so that healthy residents are mot infected.

The highest daily increase in the Czech Republic is from September 17, when hygienists confirmed 3126 cases of coronavirus. Last week on Thursday and Friday, the numbers reached 2910, with 2944 infected. The daily increments usually increase as the number of tests performed by almost 20,000 laboratories on Wednesday. The proportion of those infected among those tested has remained between ten and 15 percent for the last week or so.

In September, there were almost 46,200 cases of COVID-19 in the Czech Republic, nearly tripling the total number of people infected. The monthly increase is only slightly higher than the optimistic estimate of the Institute of Health Information and Statistics (IHIS), which assumed 44,000 new cases in September. The institute published models of the spread of the disease two weeks ago. The least optimistic of them estimated 70,000 newly infected in September.

In the last week, the infection spread most significantly in the Uherské Hradiště region, where there were over 270 cases of the disease per 100,000 inhabitants. In the Benešov region, it is 260, in the Náchod region 228, in the Pelhřimov region 213 and the district Praha-západ 207. In other districts, including Prague, this figure is below 200. Českolipsko reports the least infected with 31 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last seven days.

To reduce the spread of coronavirus and ensure the health care system’s functioning, the government approved the introduction of an emergency on Wednesday, which will apply from Monday, October 5, for one month. Along with it, new restrictions will be introduced by October 18, which will affect the operation of schools, leisure time, cultural events, sports, and other mass events, weddings, and worship services. In two weeks, the government plans to issue another, probably milder, measure. Opposition leaders see the declaration of a state of emergency as proof that the government has failed, underestimating the situation. According to them, the cabinet acts recklessly and incompetently.