Czech Republic coronavirus updates, October 2: new daily record with 3,493 COVID-19 cases

The Czech Republic set a new daily record in the number of COVID-19 cases reported on Thursday, according to the latest data published by the Czech Health Ministry this morning.

There were 3,493 new COVID-19 cases reported across the country yesterday, which tops the previous high of 3,126 COVID-19 cases on September 17. The number of new cases has been between 2,000-3,000 on seven of the last 14 days since then.

The Czech Republic is currently the second most-affected country in the European Union per capita, with about 262 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks. Only Spain (330 cases) has reported more cases per person in that span, while France (237 cases) is the only other country to report more than 200 cases per 100,000 residents.

Among Czech neighbors, only Austria (116 cases) has posted more than 100 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks, with Slovakia (79 cases), Poland (42) and Germany (31) all falling well below the recent totals posted in the Czech Republic.

There are 39,391 known current COVID-19 cases in the Czech Republic, about half of the total number of cases reported since March, now at 74,255. Over that span, there have been 34,186 reported recoveries.

The number of COVID-19 patients in Czech hospitals has also surged over the past weeks, topping 1,000 for the first time yesterday and now standing at 1,028. Of those patients, 198 are considered to be in serious condition. On Wednesday, about 2.8% of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were hospitalized.

Yesterday, however, Czech Health Minister Roman Prymula told the Czech Chamber of Deputies that about two-thirds of the total number of patients in hospitals displayed no symptoms, and were only being hospitalized as a preventative measure to stop the spread of COVID-19 in their social care facilities.

There were 12 COVID-19-related deaths reported on Thursday, bringing the total since March to 678. The Czech Health Ministry reports anyone diagnosed with COVID-19 who later dies as a COVID-19-related death, regardless of other primary or contributing factors.

While Prague has reported more than 500 new daily COVID-19 cases over the past few days, the Czech capital's 193 cases per 100,000 residents over the past week is no longer the highest rate in the country.

The rate of COVID-19 has been spreading fastest in Uherské Hradiště over the past seven days, at about 276 new cases per 100,000 residents in that span. Benešov (245), Náchod (220), and Pelhřimov (210) have also reported more than 200 cases per 100,000 residents over the past week.

On Monday, following regional and senate elections this weekend, a state of emergency will go into effect in the Czech Republic. New measures will go ino

At secondary (high) schools in red and orange districts in the Czech traffic light map, distance learning will be enacted from Monday for two weeks. Music classes will be replaced by physical education at upper grades of primary schools, and can only take place without singing at lower grades of primary schools.

The new measures largely refer to gatherings of people during events, with a limit of 10 people for indoor events and 20 for outdoor events. Swimming pools, gyms, court and official proceedings are exempt from this limit; theaters and cinemas can also function (with up to 500 spectators), through singing performances such as opera and musicals are entirely prohibited.

At pubs and restaurants, a maximum of six people may sit at a single table. According to Health Minister Roman Prymula, patrons may have to register to go to a restaurant in order to assist with COVID-19 tracing.