Czech Republic coronavirus updates, September 10: 1,161 new cases, masks back on, travel restrictions

The Czech Republic reported 1,161 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, according to the latest figures posted by the Czech Health Ministry this morning.

The total nearly tied Tuesday’s record-setting high of 1,163 COVID-19 cases. There were also 15,401 tests performed on Tuesday, the most performed in a single day since the start of the epidemic; the number of tests performed on Wednesday will be updated later today.

The number of new cases has now exceeded 1,000 for the past two days, and exceeded 400 every day this month so far. Before August 21, the highest number of COVID-19 cases reported on a single day was 377, on March 27.

There are currently 10,128 known active COVID-19 cases in the Czech Republic, the highest that number has been since the start of the epidemic in March.

A total of 31,036 COVID-19 cases have been reported over that span, with 20,374 recoveries and 444 COVID-19-related deaths.

While most cases are mild or asymptomatic, the number of serious cases has significantly increased in recent weeks. Over the past month, the number of COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization in the Czech Republic has roughly doubled, to 244, while the number of those considered to be in serious condition has nearly tripled, to 57.

Currently, the situation per capita is worst in Pelhřimov, which has reported 116 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days, and in Plzeň-South, which has reported 111 cases per 100,000 residents over that time.

Prague is right behind them, however, with about 96 cases per 100,000 residents over the past week.

Health officials have revealed that most areas of the Czech Republic will be given green low-risk status in the Health Ministry’s next regional map, to be released tomorrow. Currently, Prague is the only area with orange medium-risk status.

Vojtěch stated that additional measures may be taken in areas with increased risk of COVID-19 transmission, while Prime Minister Andrej Babiš told journalists that although a difficult autumn is ahead, the Czech Republic cannot afford to take additional economic limitations.

After a meeting with counterparts in Austria yesterday, Babiš announced that despite the measures taken by Germany and Belgium, no travel restrictions would be enforced between Austria, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.

Vojtěch stated that the recent increase in cases was not a result of children returning to schools, as children under the age of 15 only make up about 7% of the current number of COVID-19 cases.

“This means that most of the increase is due to the adult population. Perhaps this is a result of returning to work after the holidays and, bigger social interactions in general,” Vojtěch said.