Czech Republic coronavirus updates, September 24: 2,309 new cases, Germany lists most of ČR among risk regions

There were 2,309 new COVID-19 cases reported in the Czech Republic on Wednesday, according to the latest stats released by the Czech Health Ministry this morning.

The number is about the same as the rise on Tuesday, when 2,392 new COVID-19 were reported, and the third-highest daily rise in COVID-19 cases in the Czech Republic since the start of the epidemic in March. Last Thursday, a record of 3,130 new cases were reported.

The number of tests performed has also risen over the past two weeks, with more than 19,000 tests performed on Monday and over 21,000 on Tuesday; Wednesday's number will be updated later today. A high of 23,425 tests were performed last Thursday.

There have now been a total of 55,464 COVID-19 cases in the Czech Republic since the start of the outbreak in March, the majority of which have now been reported in September. There are currently more known active cases (28,048) than confirmed recoveries (26,861) since March.

The number of hospitalized patients has also been quickly rising. As of yesterday, there were 628 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the Czech Republic, 120 of which in serious condition. Those numbers have tripled this month; on September 1, there were 172 patients hospitalized, 40 of which were in serious condition.

The total number of COVID-19-related deaths rose to 555 with 11 deaths yesterday; there have been more than 10 deaths reported over the first three days of this week.

Due to the recent surge in cases in the Czech Republic, measures to restrict the spread of COVID-19 continue to be taken both within the country and outside of it. From today, a number of new regulations announced by new Czech Health Minister Roman Prymula come into effect.

Those include a limit on restaurant opening hours across the country; from tonight, all restaurants and bars in the Czech Republic are required to close by 10 p.m.; previously a curfew of midnight was in effect.

In addition, new limitations on mass events have now come into effect. No more than 2,000 spectators may attend outdoor sporting events, and no more than 1,000 may attend indoor sporting events.

At outdoor events with only standing room for visitors, only 50 people may attend; that number is a maximum of 10 people for indoor standing-room only venues, a measure that also includes bars and other informal gatherings.

Outside of the Czech Republic, additional EU states continue to place travel restrictions on the country.

Yesterday, the Netherlands added the entire Czech Republic to its list of risk areas, requiring quarantine upon entry; previously, only Prague was listed among Netherlands' risk regions.

Last night, Germany announced that it had place nearly all of the Czech Republic on its list of risk regions; only Ústí and Moravia-Silesia have been spared. A negative COVID-19 test or mandatory quarantine in Germany with subsequent testing is required for all Czech travelers apart from these two regions.

This morning, Czech Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček tweeted that Austria was likely to list Prague among its risk regions effective next week, with a negative COVID-19 test required upon arrival.

Petříček also tweeted that Greece would require a negative COVID-19 test for Czech travelers from Monday.