Coronavirus update, Aug. 11, 2021: Tečka app going blue due to different rules across EU

The Tečka application, which allows people to prove that they have been vaccinated against coronavirus, tested, or have recovered from the disease, now only displays certificates in blue. National Agency for Communication and Information Technologies (NAKIT) spokesman Lukáš Trnka said the change was made because different conditions apply to the recognition of non-infectiousness in different EU countries. While in the Czech Republic proof of vaccination within 14 days of the administering of the second dose of a two-dose vaccine is invalid, in some countries the first dose is sufficient to prove non-infectiousness. The former red or green tint could therefore be confusing when traveling.

About 560,000 Czech citizens older than 60, or some 19 percent of them, have not been vaccinated against Covid-19, and the percentage of unvaccinated seniors is slightly higher in Moravia, according to data from the Institute of Health Information and Statistics (ÚZIS). The highest percentage of vaccinated seniors is in the Vysočina region, where only one in six has not yet been inoculated, followed by Central Bohemia and Prague. On the other hand, one in four are without inoculation in Moravia-Silesia.

The number of people in the Czech Republic who have received two shots of vaccine is now at 5,008,556. The number of fully vaccinated crossed the 5 million mark on Aug. 6, as that figure also included people who had the single-shot Janssen vaccine. In both cases, people need to wait two weeks for the vaccination to be considered fully effective. The total number of people who have either both shots of a two-shot vaccine or the single shot vaccine is now at 5,169,394. The most popular two-dose vaccine is Pfizer/BioNTech, also called Comirnaty, which accounts for 82.41 percent of vaccinations. Ir is followed by AstraZeneca’s Vaxzevria at 8.05 percent, and Moderna’s Spikevax at 8.04 percent. The single-shot Janssen vaccine is only at 1.49 percent.

The Czech Olympic Committee (ČOV) is willing to negotiate about compensation over the flight of a special plane to the Tokyo Olympics from which four athletes and another two team members tested positive for Covid-19, ČOV President Jiří Kejval told reporters. However, this will depend on whether the conditions of the contracts the ČOV signed with the athletes and sports associations allow for compensation, he added. Czech Sports Union (ČUS) chairman Miroslav Jansta called on the ČOV to compensate the infected athletes on Tuesday. The Czech Volleyball Association has contacted the ČOV because of the Covid infection of beach volleyball players Markéta Sluková and Ondřej Perušič, together with the Sportfin agency, which represents Perušič and his co-player David Schweiner.

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Slovakia will no longer apply nationwide blanket measures but will use only regional ones if the Covid situation worsens, within a new anti-epidemic system that the government approved and which will take effect next week. Experts drafted it in reaction to the spread of the more contagious Delta coronavirus variant. As of Monday, not all districts in Slovakia will be on the lowest epidemic risk degree, for the first time since the second half of July. The new anti-epidemic system called "Covid automat" will also take the share of the vaccinated elderly inhabitants, who belong to the groups most threatened with the coronavirus infection, into consideration. Milder restrictions will be valid in the districts where at least 65 percent of inhabitants over 50 are vaccinated against Covid-19.

Germany will not offer free coronavirus tests from October 11, with a few exceptions. Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed on this with the prime ministers of the federal states. The chancellor also announced at a press conference that due to an increase in cases, it will no longer be possible to sit in restaurant interiors or visit a hairdresser this month. Currently, everyone in Germany has access to a free rapid test, available even on an everyday basis. According to critics, this does not force those who are already postponing vaccination to get immunized. The number of places where people will have to prove vaccination, testing, or recovery before entering is also set to increase.

There were 263 new Covid cases reported on Tuesday, up from 237 a week earlier. The reproduction number continues to rise, and is now at 1.12. It is over 1.0 for the fourth day in a row, meaning the pandemic is growing. The incidence number of new cases per 100,000 for seven days rose by one, to 12. The number of people hospitalized fell to 53, from a revised 60 the day before. The number of people in serious condition fell by one, to 14. Numbers for recent days have often been changed retrospectively due to late reporting. No deaths were reported for Tuesday, and a total of six people have died form Covid-related causes so far in August. In Prague, the incidence number is 25, up from 23 a day earlier. The R number in Prague is 1.23.