Czech Republic coronavirus updates, August 26: 367 new cases, third-highest daily increase yet

The Czech Republic reported 367 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, according to the latest data published by the Czech Health Ministry this morning. The number marks one of the highest daily increases since the start of the epidemic.

In the past three workdays, the country has seen more than 1,100 new cases, which is a higher rate of new cases than at the height of the epidemic in March and April.

Currently, there are 5,407 known active COVID-19 cases in the Czech Republic, with the vast majority reporting mild or even no symptoms of the disease.

While the total number of cases is increasing, the number of hospitalized patients appears to be remaining stable.

Health Information and Statistics Institute (UZIS) director Ladislav Dušek said on Tuesday that 122 people with COVID-19 were currently hospitalized, including 22 in serious condition.

Czech hospitals admit about ten people with COVID-19 a day, but most of these patients are not hospitalized due to COVID-19 but for other reasons, Dušek said.

“Most of the hospitalized patients are very old patients and hospitals have reported that they mostly have no symptoms [of COVID-19],” he said.

In recent days, the number of confirmed cases have exceeded 200 cases per day. Only on Sunday did the number of daily cases drop below 200, but far fewer tests are conducted during weekends. Last week, the Czech Republic broke their own record for the highest number of new cases on a single day on Friday with 505 new coronavirus cases.

Currently, there are 5,390 known active COVID-19 cases in the Czech Republic, with the vast majority reporting mild or even no symptoms of the disease.

Out of the country’s 76 districts, the epidemiological situation is still the worst in Kolin in central Bohemia, where 35 cases of coronavirus per 100,000 inhabitants were detected in the past seven days. Prague follows with 32 positive cases per 100,000 residents. The only district without a single new case in the past week is Most in north Bohemia.

“Only in a few districts the increases have been steeper of late. These are the well-known clusters, many of which have been eliminated already. And there is a long list of the districts where nothing dramatically significant happened throughout the summer,” Dušek said.

He estimated the reproduction number, or the average number of people infected by a COVID patient, is at 1.1.

Dušek said he expects the daily increases in the number of COVID-19 cases to be similar but probably higher in the autumn than in the summer.