Czech Republic coronavirus updates, October 19: 5,059 new cases, police clash with protesters over restrictions

The Czech Republic reported 13,771 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday and Sunday, according to the latest data published by the Czech Health Ministry this morning.

The weekend's numbers followed Friday's record-breaking high of 11,105 new COVID-19 cases, the highest-ever total and the first time the number of new daily cases has crossed 10,000.

On Saturday, the country reported 8,712 new cases and on Sunday the country reported 5,509 new cases.

There are currently more than 100,000 known active COVID-19 cases in the Czech Republic.

With about 828 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past 14 days, the Czech Republic has the European Union's highest rate of coronavirus infection, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Over the past two weeks, Belgium (700 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents) and the Netherlands (509 new cases) have overtaken Spain and France as the second- and third-most-affected EU states after the Czech Republic.

The Czech Republic has now reported a total of 173,885 COVID-19 cases since the start of the epidemic in March. The vast majority of those cases have come in the past six weeks, and there are currently 100,329 known active cases.

The number of COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization in the Czech Republic is also sharply rising. There are now 3,519 COVID-19 patients in Czech hospitals, 587 of whom are in serious condition.

The number of COVID-19-related deaths reported in the Czech Republic has also surged over the past weeks. More than 1,442 people have died as a result of coronavirus; ninety two of those deaths happened on over the weekend alone. On Saturday, 59 people passed away and on Sunday, 33 people passed away.

Prague reported 510 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days.

Still, the rate of COVID-19 cases in other localities is rising faster. Plzeň-North (756 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past week) has now become the most-affected area, followed by Plzeň (710 cases), Zlín (753), Uherské Hradiště (697), Příbram (665), Semily (618), and Liberec (614).

On Friday, Health Minister Roman Prymula said the number of COVID-19 cases in the Czech Republic will keep rising for about 10-14 days. He also talked about the estimates for the health care system going forward.

Two new COVID-19 testing points will be open by the end of the week in Prague 6, in cooperation with GHC Genetics. Prague city officials said they are working to expand the number of testing centers available in the capital city so residents do not have to travel so far to get a COVID-19 test done.

Over the weekend, demonstrators and police clashed at a protest over the restrictions. The protest started at 14:00 in the Czech capital's Old Town Square; organizers officially ended the demonstration after 15:00 due to the protest reaching a higher attendance than the permitted limit of 500.

Several protesters were football fans who attempted to break through the police cordon near the square. The police used a water canon against them and detained some demonstrators. Some 20 people, including police officers, were injured on the spot.