Covid cases and hospitalizations continues to fall in Czechia

The Czech Republic reported 2,589 new Covid cases on Saturday, a week-on-week decrease of about 25 percent, according to the latest data posted by the Czech Health Ministry this morning. The number of patients hospitalized with Covid has fallen to 1,529, the lowest it has been since last October. Of those patients, 92 are in serious condition.

The number of reported Covid cases in the Czech Republic has been gradually falling since reaching a daily high of around 57,000 in February. This week, the number of new cases has been down around 15 percent compared to last week.

The Czech Republic's incidence rate is currently 396 new cases per 100,000 people over the past week, down from 405 cases per 100,000 people on Friday. The incidence rate remains highest in Prague at 552 cases per 100,000 people, and the lowest in Liberec at 273 cases per 100,000 people.

The Czech Republic reported 5,973 new Covid cases on Friday, about twenty percent fewer than last Friday, according to the latest data posted by the Czech Health Ministry. The number is the second-lowest weekday tally since the start of the year, after Thursday, while the number of repeat infections has also dropped.

The number of patients hospitalized with Covid has also continued to decline, and fell to 1,681 yesterday, also about twenty percent fewer week-on-week. A total of 89 of those patients are in serious condition, the fewest since last October.

The Czech Republic's Covid incidence rate now stands at 405 cases per 100,000 people, the lowest it has been since January 7. Prague has the highest incidence rate at 561 cases per 100,000 people, while Liberec has the lowest at 283 cases per 100,000 people.

There were another 6,495 new cases of coronavirus, the lowest number on a workday since the start of the year, and 1,279 suspected reinfections. A week ago, there were 7,115 new cases. The number of people hospitalized with Covid fell by over 17 percent compared to the previous Thursday and was the lowest since Jan. 23. Yesterday it was at 1,715 patients with 90 in serious condition, compared to 2,074 patients and 117 serious cases a week earlier. The number of Covid-related deaths is decreasing, too. In mid-February, there were up to 400 deaths a week. Last week, there were Covid-related 157 deaths. The preliminary toll for March is 885.

The reproduction number R is at 0.90. The incidence rate of new cases per 100,000 people over seven days is 420, down from 425 a day earlier. It is still the highest in Prague, at 571, and the lowest in the Liberec Region at 295 cases.

On Thursday, another 3,801 people were inoculated, compared to 3,872 a week earlier. Some 3,083 had booster shots and 464 completed vaccination. In total 3,468 doses of the protein-based Nuvaxovid vaccine from Novavax were administered in March.

Some Covid test sites are shortening hours as of the start of April. Health insurance companies will no longer pay for PCR tests to laboratories that they did not have contracts with before the Covid epidemic. Všeobecná zdravotní pojišťovna (VZP) spokeswoman Viktorie Plívová said that it will concern about a tenth of the sites. According to the State Institute of Public Health, more than 150 laboratories have so far had permission to test.

There were 7,397 new confirmed Covid cases, compared to 8,476 a week earlier. Tests also showed 1,332 suspected reinfections. Hospitals had 1,773 Covid patients with 87 serious cases. A week earlier there were 2,161 patients and 112 serious cases. The reproduction number R is at 0.89. The incidence number of new cases per 100,000 people over seven days is 426, down from 436 a day earlier. The highest number is still in Prague at 555, and the lowest is now in the Liberec region at 297.

On Wednesday, 3,362 people were vaccinated, compared to 3,868 a week ago. Of the doses given out yesterday, 2,657 were boosters and 432 people completed vaccination. In total 3,235 doses of the protein-based Nuvaxovid vaccine from Novavax have been administered since the start of the month. Since the start of the pandemic, about 17.5 million doses of Covid vaccines were administered. 6.9 million people were fully vaccinated and 4.1 million were vaccinated with another booster dose.

Entrepreneurs from selected fields whose activities were affected by government restrictions at the end of the year last year can apply for compensation from the Covid Uncovered Costs program from 9 am today. The Ministry of Industry and Trade will accept applications through its online information system. Entrepreneurs have until May 17 to submit claims. The program has CZK 2 billion set aside.

The Health Ministry is preparing another information campaign for Covid vaccination. Health Minister Vlastimil Válek told the members of the Health Committee that the ministry already has a public contract. However, no tender for a campaign has been listed on the ministry's public record of offered contracts. Interest in vaccinations has been falling since the beginning of the year.

Health Minister Vlastimil Válek told the Health Committee that none of the previous health ministers should be criticized for ordering too many Covid vaccines. "The fact that all EU countries have more vaccine doses than they need is not a mistake of any country or any minister," he said. Válek praised the European Union’s purchases, due to which countries paid a lower price. Válek added that Czechia wants to keep donating the surplus coronavirus vaccines to poorer countries.  

There were another 8,915 confirmed cases of coronavirus, compared to 10,488 a week ago. Suspected reinfections were at 1,652. Hospitals had 1,839 Covid patients with 94 serious cases. A week ago there were 2,260 patients and 129 serious cases. In mid-February, there were over 4,000 COVID hospitalized, with almost 300 in serious condition. The reproduction number R is at 0.89. The number of new cases per 100,000 people over seven days fell to 436 from 450 a day earlier. It is still the highest in Prague, at 571, and the lowest in the Karlovy Vary Region, at 318.

About 17.5 million Covid vaccine doses have been administered. A total of 6.9 million Czechs have complete vaccination and 4.1 million got the booster dose. On Tuesday, 2,700 people were inoculated, compared to 2,859 a week ago. Some 2,092 had booster shots and 384 completed vaccination. In total 3,046 doses of the protein-based Nuvaxovid vaccine from Novavax have been administered since the start of the month.

Since the epidemic outbreak in the country in March 2020, some 3,808,101 people have become infected with the coronavirus and 39,640 of them have died, while 3,700,717 have recovered. The Czech Republic has a population of 10.5 million. The number of Covid-related deaths has been diminishing, too. In late February and early March, there were 40 to50 deaths a day, but in recent days only 20 to 30. A preliminary nine deaths were reported for Tuesday. The toll for the past seven days is 161 and for March is 795.  

Workers reported 5,369 cases of covid-19 last year as an occupational disease. Compared to 2020, when 150 cases were reported, the number increased almost thirty-six times. About 99 percent of the cases reported in the National Register of Occupational Diseases (NRNP) were with health and social care workers. While 1,120 cases of all occupational diseases were reported in 2020, there were 6,043 cases in 2021. Of these, Covid-19 accounted for almost 89 percent, according to a press release from the State Institute of Public Health (SZÚ).  

There were another 8,812 confirmed coronavirus cases, compared to 10,420 a week ago. On Feb. 1, there were over 57,000 cases of coronavirus infection, the biggest number in a single day since the outbreak. Recently, the daily number of infections has been oscillating from 7,000 to 10,000 on working days. Hospitals had 1,857 Covid patients with 93 in serious condition. A week earlier there were 2,322 patents and 134 serious cases. In mid-February, there were over 4,000 hospitalized and almost 300 in serious condition. In recent days, the former number fell under 2,000 and the latter under 100.

The reproduction number R is at 0.90. The number of new cases per 100,000 people over seven days fell to 450 from 465 a day earlier. In Prague, the R number is 0.93. The incidence is still the highest in Prague, at 580, and lowest in the Karlovy Vary region, at 308.

A total of 6.9 million Czechs have completed vaccination and 4.1 million have gotten the booster dose. On Monday, 2,637 people were inoculated, compared to 2,952 a week ago. Some 2,155 received boosters and 359 completed vaccination. A total of 2,872 doses of the protein-based Nuvaxovid vaccine from Novavax have been administered.  

Entrepreneurs from selected fields will be able to apply for compensation due to the pandemic from the Covid Uncovered Costs (Covid – Nepokryté náklady) program from Thursday. CZK 2 billion are ready. Details on the program can be found on the Ministry of Industry and Trade website.

Deltacron, a new variant of Covid, has appeared in some world countries, but no case of it has been detected in Czechia for the time being, the National Public Health Institute (SZÚ) told ČTK. It is a combination of the Delta and Omicron variants. Epidemiologist Omar Šery said an analysis of the variant was underway and the Brno-based Elisabeth Pharmacon laboratory is preparing for being able to detect Deltacron, if needed. The new variant first appeared in Cyprus and has been also confirmed in France, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the U.S. Epidemiologist Omar Šery said an analysis of the variant was underway.

On Sunday, there were 2,246 confirmed Covid cases, compared to 2,275 a week earlier. This year, there were only fewer cases on Jan. 1 and 2. Laboratories also detected 346 suspected recurrences. The epidemic has slowed throughout the past week. Hygienists have confirmed the infection in a total of 49,810 people since Monday. A week earlier, there were more than 54,000. There are 1,584 patients hospitalized with coronavirus, the least since the second half of January, and 88 serious cases. A week ago, there were 22.048 patients and 126 serious cases.

The reproduction number R is at 0.93. The number of new cases per 100,000 people over seven days is at 465, down from 466 a day earlier. The highest incidence is currently in Prague, at 590. The lowest is in the Karlovy Vary region at 337. The incidence rate is below 400 in the Liberec, Moravia-Silesia, and Olomouc regions.

Interest in vaccination continues to decline. On Sunday, 141 vaccine doses were administered, a lower number was only reported on Jan. 1 only this year. Of the doses administered Sunday, 114 were booster shots and 12 people completed vaccination. Since vaccination with the protein-based Nuvaxovid vaccine from Novavax began at the start of March, only 2,693 doses of it have been given out, despite over 8,000 people pre-registering to receive it. The Czech government received 130,00 doses at the start of the month and hoped that people who were skeptical of mRNa vaccines would get it. In total, almost 17.5 million vaccine doses have been applied in the country since the beginning of the Covid vaccination in late December 2020.