Czech Republic reports 7,435 new coronavirus cases

The number of deaths with covid-19 since the beginning of the Czech Republic’s disease epidemic in March has exceeded 15,000. It took seven days to reach the last thousand deaths. However, the increases in new infections have been declining recently in a week-on-week comparison. On Thursday, laboratories detected 7,435 new cases, which is about 650 less than a week earlier. The number of hospitalizations decreased by 250 to 6,131. The PES index remains at 73 points, holding the fourth stage for more than a week. However, the reproduction number deteriorated for the fifth time in a row. Now it is 0.86. according to the Ministry of Health.

In the Czech Republic, 924,847 people have so far been demonstrably infected with the coronavirus. Almost 796,000 of them have recovered. There are currently about 114,000 infected in the country, most of which are mild. There are 1,044 patients in severe condition in hospitals.

So far, 15,130 people have died from the covid-19 infection. There are 488 victims this week. There are 68 deaths on Thursday, but these figures usually increase with further updates. Since the beginning of January, the daily numbers of victims are generally higher than 150.

Coronavirus measures now correspond to the strictest fifth stage of the anti-epidemic PES system. Government officials condition the transition to a milder level by releasing the capacity of hospitals. According to the Minister of Health Jan Blatný, there should not be more than 3,000 patients with covid, which last happened in mid-October. This week, however, the number of hospitalized is declining. On Monday, there were almost 7,000.

The share of positive tests on Thursday reached almost 31 percent. It’s the most since 13 January. The seven-day average is about 29.5 percent.

The most affected region has long been the Trutnov region, where in the last seven days, they recorded 1109 infected per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by the Cheb region with 885 infected. However, in many regions, including Prague, this indicator has fallen below 300, relatively best in the Chomutov region with 207 infected per 100,000 inhabitants in the past seven days.

Coronavirus vaccinations in the Czech Republic started on 27 December. So far, medics have administered 170,670 doses, of which 13,190 were given to people on Thursday.

The PES remains at 73 points, but the reproduction number continues to rise.
The PES anti-epidemic risk index is still at 73 points and has remained in the fourth of five risk levels for more than a week. For the fifth time in a row, however, the reproductive number has deteriorated, indicating how many people on average infect one who tested positive. It has risen by three-hundredths to 0.86 since Thursday. To date, healthcare professionals in the Czech Republic have administered 170,670 vaccines against the new coronavirus.

In addition to the reproduction number, the index is also calculated based on the average infected per 100,000 inhabitants in the last two weeks, the fortnightly average infected among the elderly, and the proportion hospitalized with covid in whom the infection was detected in hospital. All three criteria have been declining for several days.

The index has been at 70 points for three days since Sunday, rising by three points on Wednesday. The reason was the increase in the reproduction number above the limit of 0.8. At the beginning of January, the reproduction number reached 1.45, then began to decline to Sunday’s 0.68. It has been growing ever since.
Measures against coronavirus in the Czech Republic, which follow the index, now correspond to the strictest fifth degree. The government does not plan to dismantle it yet. However, the Minister of Health Jan Blatný (for YES) will propose that the updated measures in the anti-epidemic system PES apply from 1 February. At some risk levels, it will be possible to organize mass events for participants who submit a negative test.

In addition to the number of cases, hospitals’ filling should also be reflected in the assessed parameters. It is the capacity of hospitals that is now conditioned by government officials to relax measures. At the beginning of the week, Blatný stated that there should not be more than 3,000 people in hospitals to transition to the fourth degree. However, according to the latest available data, there are more than twice as many.

It has been vaccinated against the new coronavirus in the Czech Republic since 27 December. So far, medics have administered 170,670 doses, of which 13,190 were given to people on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Health website. It also shows that the current record was 14,380 vaccinations on Thursday last week. This week, a maximum of 13,966 were vaccinated on Tuesday.

The ministry has not yet updated the overview of vaccinations by region today. According to data for Wednesday evening, most doses were given in Prague, almost 45,200. On the contrary, the least doses, about 2800, were vaccinated by health professionals in the Pardubice region.