Czech morning news in brief: top stories for Jan. 1, 2021

The novel coronavirus mutation that appeared in England in mid-December has not yet been detected in the Czech Republic so far, Barbora Mackova, head of the National Health Institute's (SZU) centre of epidemiology and microbiology, told CTK Thursday. The increasingly contagious mutation has appeared in Germany, France, the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, and the United Arab Emirates. Studies have shown it does not cause a more serious course of the disease. In reaction to the detection of the new coronavirus strain, the Czech Republic halted flight arrivals from Britain on Dec. 21, and introduced compulsory home quarantine for people arriving from the UK as of Dec. 20. Direct flights from London to Prague were restored Dec. 23 with the passengers required to submit a negative COVID-19 test.

The Ministry of Health has asked Czech hospitals to devote more capacity to the COVID-19 infected. Providers of long-term and further medical care should gradually free beds to make way for patients with coronavirus. Similar steps were taken in the Czech Republic in the spring and from Dec. 22, when the ministry also urged hospitals to reduce elective care. Health Minister Jan Blatný deems the rise in hospitalized more serious than the rising number of cases, he told CTK Wednesday. Currently there are over 120,000 people with COVID in the Czech Republic, the most since the end of Oct. The number of hospitalized has decreased by 84 to 6,023, but the death rate is escalating. The ministry's most current data shows a death rate of 11,71. A total of 13,274 new cases were reported on Thursday.

The COVID risk index of the epidemic PES system rose to 90 points of 100 today, the highest figure yet, with the country remaining on the worst, fifth alert level according to this morning's data from the ministry. The rise was caused by a higher reproduction (R) number, which reflects the average number of the people infected by one positive person. The Ministry of Health has been publishing the PES index since the beginning of Oct.; it is preparing to change the way it is calculated from Jan. The new methodology will likely not take into account the proportion of positive among those tested but rather take into account the number of patients in hospitals.

The Czech Republic rang in the new year under strict anti-epidemic conditions. Curfew and fireworks restrictions emptied out streets and squares across the country and pyrotechnics were kept at a minimum, according to firefighters. Only dozens of people took part in evening demonstrations in the centers of major cities, according to iDnes. In Prague, firefighters and rescuers say New Year's Eve was one of the calmest in recent years. Less than a hundred opponents of government measures gathered on Wenceslas Square in Prague on New Year's Eve to protest, breaking curfew. Before New Year's Eve, Minister of Health, Jan Blatný called on people to be responsible and to reduce traditional celebrations in view of the growing number of people infected.

Prague 6 district representatives have asked President Zeman to reopen Prague Castle to the public, adding that the closure of this part of Prague is unusual, unacceptable, and a display of Zeman's arbitrariness and disrespect for Czech people. The authors of a letter to the president say the argument that visitors to Prague Castle, which is the seat of the president, may contract COVID-19 is untenable as the danger of infection there is the same as elsewhere in the Czech Republic. The Prague Castle complex has been closed since Oct. 9 over the government epidemic restrictions, and was also closed for more than two months during the spring coronavirus wave.