Czech Republic coronavirus updates, September 3: new daily record set with 650 COVID-19 cases

The Czech Republic set a new daily record with 650 reported COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, according to data released by the Czech Health Ministry this morning.

Over the past week, the Czech Republic has a higher rate of infection per capita than any of its neighboring countries. The south Moravian region has reported more cases over the first two days of September than it did during the entire month of May.

Since the beginning of the outbreak in March, there have been a total of 25,773 COVID-19 cases reported in the Czech Republic, with 18,326 confirmed recoveries and 425 COVID-19-related deaths.

The high number of new cases over the past two weeks coincides with a high number of tests being conducted. On Tuesday, a record-high 10,966 tests were performed. The number of tests performed Wednesday will be updated later today.

The number of known active COVID-19 cases in the Czech Republic has now exceeded 7,000 for the first time, and stands at 7,022.

Out of that total, 172 of the current COVID-19 patients require hospitalization, and 40 are in serious condition. Those numbers have doubled over the past month.

The percentage of COVID-19 that require hospitalization has remained stable at 2.6%, however, after hitting highs of around 10% during the previous height of the epidemic in April and May. Most of the new reported cases have shown only mild symptoms of the disease, or no symptoms at all.

Due to the rapid rise in new cases, new lockdown measures are likely to be taken, Czech Health Minister Adam Vojtěch has stated. Prague, one of the Czech Republic’s most-affected localities, is especially likely to see new measures taken in the immediate future.

With just under 50 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days, Prague is currently the third-most-affected area of the Czech Republic.

Hodonín, in south Moravia, has now reported about 64 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past week, while nearby Třebíč has reported 52 new cases per 100,000 residents over that span.

Svitavy, Beroun, and Mělník have also reported more than 40 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past week.

Due to the rise in new cases, the Czech Republic is also likely to be placed on lists of risk areas by additional European countries this week, restricting travel in some regard. The United Kingdom and Ireland currently require a mandatory two-week quarantine for travelers coming from the Czech Republic, for example.