Czech Republic coronavirus updates, Nov. 2: 6,542 new cases, state of emergency extended

There were 6,542 new COVID-19 cases reported in the Czech Republic on Sunday, according to the latest data published by the Czech Health Ministry this morning.

The number of new COVID-19 cases in the past week have been steadily decreasing since last Tuesday's peak high of 15,663 cases. Since then, numbers have been going down: the country reported just 11,428 new cases on Saturday and 6,542 new cases on Sunday.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 300,000 people have been infected with COVID-19. There are currently 180,797 known active COVID-19 cases in the Czech Republic. Since the start of the epidemic in March, a total of 341,664 cases have been reported.

In light of these numbers, Czech members of parliament approved an extension of the state of emergency during a Friday afternoon meeting of the Chamber of Deputies.

The state of emergency was extended until November 20, although Prime Minister Andrej Babiš's ANO party called for a longer extension, until December 3. 

The Czech Republic remains one of the most-affected states in the European Union, and one of the most affected countries in the world, with about 1,561 reported COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. 

The number of cases has been surging in Belgium, which now has the worst epidemiological situation in Europe; the country has reported about 1,702 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents in the past fourteen days.

The Czech Republic has also reported 17.8 COVID-19-related deaths per 100,000 residents over the past 14 days, almost twice as many as the next European country (Belgium, with 10.5 COVID-19-related deaths per 100,000 residents).

The number of COVID-19 patients in Czech hospitals has been quickly rising, and now stands at 7,370. Among those, 1,156 patients are considered to be in serious condition.

Coronavirus continues to spread across the Czech Republic, and the Rakovnik region has the worst epidemiological situation in the country with 1,229 new cases per 100,000 residents in the past seven days. Prague has 484 positive COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people. On Sunday, Prague added 451 new COVID-19 cases, several hundred less than a week ago.

Here's a complete breakdown of all the pandemic restrictions now in place in Prague and the Czech Republic.