Czech Republic records fourth and fifth deaths attributed to coronavirus

Prague, March 25 (CTK) – Two patients with COVID-19 died in Czechia today, both men in their eighties who also suffered from other health troubles, being the country’s fourth and fifth victims of the new coronavirus, Prague’s Bulovka hospital and the Central Bohemian sanitary office have reported.

An 83-year-old man, a resident in Prague, died in Bulovka this morning. He was diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 21 and he suffered from long-lasting chronic health troubles linked to his high age, the hospital wrote on Twitter.

The other death case today is an 88-year-old man from Central Bohemia who stayed in home care after contracting the new coronavirus in his family. He, too, suffered from another chronic disease.

The first patient with the disease died in the Czech Republic on Sunday, three weeks after the first cases of the new coronavirus infection appeared in the country. This patient was a 95-year-old man also hospitalised in Bulovka. He probably got infected in a Prague facility for chronically ill patients where he had stayed.

Two deaths were reported on Tuesday, the victims being a 71-year-old woman in Prague’s General Teaching Hospital (VFN) and a 45-year-old man in the hospital in Havirov, north Moravia.

The first three confirmed cases of COVID-19 appeared in the Czech Republic on March 1. Their number rose to 1,497 this morning, with a total of 22,600 people having been tested.

The number of daily testings was record high, almost 3,000, on Tuesday. Foreign experience shows that extensive testing is one of the most effective measures to keep the epidemic under control.

Out of the 14 Czech regions, the number of the new coronavirus cases is the highest in Prague, where it rose by 65 in the past 24 hours and reached 439 at 18:00 on Tuesday. Central Bohemia follows with 193 cases, an increase by 25 on Tuesday.

Out of the Central Bohemian districts, the number is the highest, 35, in Prague-West, followed by Prague-East (29) and the Kladno district (24), where the fifth victim lived.

Ten patients have recovered in Czechia so far, being released from quarantine after testing negative for the coronavirus twice in 24 hours. Most Czech patients have mild symptoms of the disease, only one in ten needs hospital care.