Confirmed Czech COVID-19 cases up to 6,914, rising by 154 on Monday

Prague, April 21 (CTK) – The Czech Republic has 6,914 COVID-19 cases, including 14 confirmed today, Monday’s increase by 154 was the highest in five days; a total of 196 patients have died and 1,597 recovered so far, the Health Ministry writes on its website.

The number of deaths has risen by two and the number of recoveries by 38 since Monday evening.

A total of 6,494 samples were tested on Monday, which is far fewer than in last week’s working days, when the daily numbers of tests exceeded 8,200.

A total of 178,619 samples have been tested in the Czech Republic in the past two months.

Monday’s 154 newly confirmed cases make up 2.3 percent of all samples tested on Monday. This is the highest ratio compared with Sunday’s 2.3 percent and with less than 2 percent on the preceding five days.

Health Minister Adam Vojtech (for ANO) told a press conference that the next days will show whether the increase in the share of the number of new cases among the tested samples is a trend or a mere one-off fluctuation.

It may be the first consequence of people’s weakening their observance of the anti-COVID-19 restrictions during Easter, Vojtech said, adding that he wants to assess the situation at a press conference later this week, when the data can be assessed objectively after ten to 14 days following Easter.

The current number of patients with COVID-19 is 5,121.

For the first time in nine days, the number of those hospitalised with the new coronavirus has also increased on Monday, to 390, but the number of hospitalised patients in a severe condition dropped to 75. A total of 467 patients have been released from hospitals so far, either as fully recovered or to home care.

Out of the 14 regions, the disease is the most widespread in Prague, where some 1,630 cases have been registered so far, which is 120 patients per 100,000 inhabitants. The central Moravian Olomouc Region follows with almost 100 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, while South Bohemia has the lowest relative number of them, some 25 per 100,000.

The number of deaths of COVID-19 patients is the highest of all in Prague, 75. Moravia-Silesia and Central Bohemia follow with 22 and 20 deaths, respectively. The Zlin Region, south Moravia, has the lowest number of victims, only one.

Out of various age groups, the largest number of patients are those aged from 45 to 54, who make up almost 19 percent of all patients. Seniors aged 65-74 make up 10 percent, people aged 75-84 over 6 percent and those over 84 make up 4 percent of all patients.

The first three cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Czechia on March 1, the first patient died on March 22.

In recent days, the government started softening the restrictive measures previously imposed to stem the epidemic.

The Health Ministry this morning presented a project of testing a representative sample of the population aimed to show the extent of people’s collective immunity against the coronavirus.