Coronavirus update, June 25, 2021: Respirators to remain mandatory indoors, in public transport

The Czech National Health Institute (SZÚ) has confirmed 96 cases of the delta mutation of the coronavirus so far, and it suspects its community transfer in the northern Liberec Region. By Friday, June 18, the SZÚ registered 30 cases of the increasingly contagious delta variant, which was previously known as the Indian mutation, the data on the SZÚ web show. Liberec regional public health officer Vladimír Valenta wrote in a press release that the higher number of confirmed delta infections in Liberec is due to the region being the only one where all coronavirus-positive samples have been subjected to discriminatory PCR testing for many weeks. The other of the country's 14 regions are only going to launch the practice only now, he said.

Czechs can get inoculated sooner than after 90 days after having recovered from Covid-19 as of Friday as the Health Ministry canceled the previous mandatory deadline, it reported in a press release today. Some people are reluctant to get vaccinated or their GPs discourage them from it as they still have a high amount of antibodies. As of Friday, those who recovered from Covid-19 will be allowed to register for the vaccination right after their two-week isolation over a positive Covid test. This way, the ministry wants to speed up the vaccination and revise its current strategy after consultations with its expert team. The available vaccines are efficient against Covid variants, and the Health Ministry wants to protect people even more, Health Minister Adam Vojtěch said.

The Prague metro will run again until midnight from 15 July. Prague, ROPID and the Prague Public Transit Company (DPP) have decided to extend the operation of the metro in connection with the growth in demand and the number of transported passengers in the metro after 8 pm. The hours were cut due to Covid restrictions limiting people’s movements. The last daily metro connections will depart from the center of Prague between 12:02 and 12:08 am, depending on the line and station. From Thursday, July 1, 2021, after more than a year, the AE (Airport Express) line will also return to operation, connecting the Prague Main Railway Station and Václav Havel Prague Airport with direct connections. From 1 July, the holiday timetable will apply to Prague's public transport and PID bus lines.

Online education amid the coronavirus epidemic brought along the need of more time for preparation of the courses, teaching and communication with students, but many teachers report they feel exhausted and worry about the lack of students' motivation, a survey by PAQ Research showed. The number of teachers working six and more hours a day nearly doubled from 37 percent to 56 percent in a year-over-year comparison. Simultaneously, more teachers reported they feel exhausted, from 45 to 55 percent. Women felt more tired than men, the difference equaled some 20 percent in winter. Fifty-four percent of teachers say the motivation of students has deteriorated over the past year. Two-thirds of teachers expressed their worries about the loss of students' motivation in winter as against 53 percent in spring 2020.

There were 99 new Covid cases on Thursday, some 58 fewer than last week. The number is below 100 on a weekday for the first time since July 2020. Eight districts report zero infected in the last seven days. In the last seven days, Prague has registered about 15 infected people per 100,000 inhabitants. There are currently 76 people in hospitals, 12 of whom are in serious condition or in need of high-intensity care. Last Thursday, there were 114 people in hospitals with Covid-19 and 16 of them were in serious condition. One person died on Thursday, but the total number may still be updated during the day. The reproduction number R is at 0.77, down from a revised 0.83 the previous day.