Czech Republic coronavirus updates, August 10: 122 new cases, officials to release updated regional map

There were 122 new COVID-19 cases reported in the Czech Republic on Sunday, the lowest number of the past week, according to the latest data posted by the Czech Health Ministry this morning.

The daily increases have always been lower on weekend days when fewer samples are tested. On Sunday, officials performed 5,106 tests, while officials performed anywhere from 6,000 to 8,000 tests during the week.

The number of people currently infected with coronavirus further rose to record 5,180 over the weekend.

A total of 18,355 samples tested positive in the country since the early March epidemic outbreak, 70 percent of the patients have recovered and 390 died.

Like on the previous weekend days, the daily increase in the number of new cases also dropped below 200 on Saturday, while on the preceding workdays it ranged from 209 on Monday to 323 on Friday. Friday’s increase was the third highest since the epidemic outbreak, after 377 and 334 new cases recorded on March 27 and April 3, respectively.

Despite the high number of daily infections, however, the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 has remained stable, at 114 as of this morning. Only a handful of those patients are considered to be in serious condition.

In almost every district within the Czech Republic, the number of new COVID-19 cases has stabilized over the past seven days, following minor outbreaks in Central and South Bohemia at the end of July.

Only Frýdek-Místek, in the Moravian-Silesian region, has the situation continued to worsen. The district reached a new high over the weekend: 80 positive cases per 100,000 residents over the past week.

The neighboring Karvina district, once the center of the outbreak, reported just 15 positive cases per 100,000 residents. The OKD company will start preparing the restart of its coal mines’ operation today, following a suspension over the coronavirus in early July.

The Klatovy region has reported 30 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents. The situation first started at the follow-up care hospital in Horazdovice, where staff and patients contracted the virus. Almost all of them have no symptoms of the disease for the time being, regional epidemiologist Petr Pazdiora told CTK over the weekend.

The Kolin region to the east of Prague reported 28 positive cases per 100,000 people. In Prague, the number of new COVID-19 cases over the past week is about 25 per 100,000 residents; the capital seen a steady decrease over the past two weeks.

The Czech Republic has now reported a total of 18,355 COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the outbreak in mid-March. There have been 12,785 reported recoveries and 390 deaths, leaving a total of 5,180 known active cases – the highest number to date.

Chief public health officer Jarmila Razova said over the weekend that well-known infection epicentres with massive testing underway are behind the recent high daily increases, and that the respective regional public health authorities are in control of the situation.

Roman Prymula, the government commissioner for science and research in the health sector, too, said the situation is not alarming. He and Razova agreed that for the development of the epidemic it is crucial that the number of the patients in hospitals and those needing intensive care has not been changing markedly.

Out of the country’s 76 districts, no new cases have occurred only in Tachov (west Bohemia), Decin (north Bohemia), and Jesenik (north Moravia) in the past week.

Given the epidemiological situation across the country,  the Health Ministry will present its updated map of districts’ epidemiological situation on Monday, the so-called traffic light system. The map divides them into white, with zero risk, and green, yellow and red depending on the rising risk level.

Last Monday, it put nine districts in the green category, which signals low risk. Those regions are Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Prague-West, Prague-East, Karvina, Frydek-Mistek, Jihlava and Prachatice. All other districts remain on the white list for the moment. The green districts are those with new cases of the infection, which, nevertheless, do not spread in communities.

In a discussion on Prima TV today, Razova said the updated traffic lights map to appear on Monday will be “more favourable” than the current one.