Coronavirus update, March 10, 2021: COVID-related deaths in Prague now over 2,000

An ambulance transported a Czech patient with COVID-19 from Ústí nad Orlicí Hospital in East Bohemia to a hospital in Racibórz, Poland. A doctor accompanied the patient, who requires a ventilator, on the 2.5 hour journey. The capacities of hospitals in the Pardubice Region are almost exhausted, especially at hospitals in Pardubice, Chrudim and Ústí nad Orlicí. The preparation was demanding, as medical records needed to be translated and other administrative details had to be done for the first time. "Now it will be easier for everyone, if necessary," Pardubice Governor Martin Netolický said.

The Czech Republic had 15,900 deaths in January, which has been the highest number of fatalities that occurred this month since 1950 and it is markedly more than the average January number of deaths in the last five years, the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ) said. In the last several years, from 9,500 to 12,400 died in the country in January. Until now, the highest number of deaths was 15,300 in January 1970 when the country was hit by the Hong Kong flu. The January number of deaths was higher than the number of people who died last November when the autumn coronavirus wave culminated. According to the ČSÚ, there were 100 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in the Czech Republic on average in January in 2015–19, while this January it was 148 deaths per 100,000.

One-fifth of Czech employees have experienced their employer or superior violating the anti-COVID measures and one in seven says the employer or boss called for ignoring the testing and tracing rules, according to a survey by the Life During Pandemic project. Some employers told their COVID-ill employees to stay at home without going to tests and others wanted their employees to go to work though they had contacts with a COVID infected or had mild symptoms of the disease themselves. Moreover, one in seven employees was prevented from working from home though this would be possible. On the other hand, two-fifths of employees described a responsible approach of their firms to the anti-epidemic rules. More than one-fifth of them were testing their staff for the novel coronavirus even before this duty was officially imposed.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković has offered help with the treatment of COVID-19 patients to the Czech Republic and Slovakia, he tweeted. "I had a phone called with (Czech and Slovak PMs) Andrej Babiš and Igor Matovič today and if need be, Croatia is willing to take care of a dozen patients from each of these countries," Plenkovic wrote on Twitter last night. Croatia has not been heavil affected by the pandemic and is already slowly relaxing its lockdown. Restaurant outdoor premises have opened in some Croatian regions in the past week, for instance.