Covid spread slowing in Czech Republic, but positivity rate still high

The incoming government of Petr Fiala will repeal a section of the forthcoming decree, which stipulates mandatory vaccination against Covid-19 for people over 60 years of age, Social Affairs Marian Jurečka (KDU-ČSL), candidate for Minister of Labor, said on Czech Television today. If professional organizations demand that vaccination be made mandatory in their area, Fiala's government will respect them, he added. According to the mandate, compulsory vaccinations should apply to paramedics, social workers, soldiers, and members of the integrated rescue system. According to the proposal, city police officers, volunteer firefighters, medics, and medical school students should also be vaccinated. 

Currently, 58.4 percent of Czechs who are eligible for the third vaccine have been inoculated. Of those over 60, the proportion has reached 66 percent. In recent days, the number of doses of vaccines administered has been increasing, most of which are made up of booster doses. On Saturday, health professionals administered 30,500 doses of the Covid vaccine, a third more than a week ago. Of the dose given, over 25,000 were booster doses. Since last December, 13.8 million doses of vaccine have been applied and around 6.4 million Czechs have completed vaccination.

The Ministry of Health is preparing a decree on compulsory vaccination against Covid-19 for selected groups of the population, Minister Adam Vojtěch said at a press conference on Friday. Mandatory vaccination will apply to seniors and some professions and is scheduled to begin in March 2022, but the future government may still change the decision.

In addition to people over the age of 60 and paramedics, police, and firefighters, the decree also lists city police officers and volunteer fire brigade units. The obligation will also apply to medics. According to Vojtěch, compulsory vaccination is the right path for Europe. "If we look at the statements of European politicians, it is clear that Europe is turning to compulsory vaccination against Covid-19. Czechia should also follow this path," he added.

Prague Castle is preparing large-scale disinfection of publicly accessible areas due to Covid, news server iRozhlas.cz reported. The cleaning will use nano-sprays on surfaces up to a height of two meters. The project will cost around CZK 250,000. Disinfecting will also take place chateau in Lány, where President Miloš Zeman is currently recovering from Covid, but this will be done by Castle staff.

Outgoing Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said that the state-run vaccination center that had been at O2 universum will not reopen, despite increased demand. Bestsport, which owns the O2 Arena complex, had offered their facilities again to the state for a symbolic rental fee. Prague currently has 79 vaccination sites and the shortest waiting times for vaccinations in the country. Another site will open at Kotva on Dec. 13.

According to the number of new coronavirus infections per 100,000 people in the last seven days, the worst situation in the world is now Andorra, with 1,412 cases; a week earlier it had 687. Slovakia is now second with 1,343 cases. It was in first place a week ago with 1,431 cases. The Czech Republic is in third place with 1,223 cases. A week ago it was second with 1,097 cases. Belgium is fourth with a weekly incidence of 1,150, according to data from the Our World in Data project. (The data is a day behind current figures.) Europe accounts for all of the top 10 countries, and seven are in the EU.

The U.S. government announced new air travel rules for all international travelers entering the U.S., including returning citizens. As of Dec. 6, each international air traveler will be required to have a negative Covid-19 test within one day of departure for the United States, regardless of vaccination status. Antigen or PCR tests will be accepted. The rule applies to all air passengers over two years old, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

People who recently recovered from Covid-19 can travel with documentation of recovery from Covid-19 from a foreign country and a letter from a licensed healthcare provider or a public health official stating that they were cleared to travel. The U.S. did not impose a mandatory seven-day quarantine on arrivals, which had been mentioned as a possibility. Mask rules also still apply on flights.

Another Covid vaccination center will open in the Kotva shopping mall in Prague on Dec. 13. it will be operated by the General University Hospital (VFN), the Health Ministry announced. News server Seznam.cz said the center will take walk-ins. Details on what vaccines it will offer and whether it will accept self-payers were not yet available. The new center is in response to increased demand for vaccination. In all, there will be 80 centers in Prague, roughly one-sixth of the total 450 in the Czech Republic.

Czech public health officers have not detected any further cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant related to an infected woman who arrived in the country in November aboard a flight from Dubai. The woman, a resident of Liberec, is the first and so far only Omicron infection case confirmed in the Czech Republic. Her contacts are still being checked by public health offices in the Liberec Region as well as Moravia-Silesia and Central Bohemia. Three of her contacts were found to have Covid, but two cases werehte Delta variant and the third case was too mild to do a conclusive test on.

Likely new Health Minister Vlastimil Válek said the new government’s first steps toward the Covid pandemic will be based on the current situation in hospitals. They will differ depending on exactly the new government takes office, Válek told ČTK. However, crucial steps will concern a possible reduction of hospital care and distribution of patients, acceleration of vaccination, especially of third doses and children, and provision of treatment to prevent hospitalizations. "These steps will be based on what the current government has implemented or has not implemented and will have to be based on the situation in health care facilities," he said. The priority is to prevent the collapse of the health system, he added.

Coronavirus vaccination certificates’ validity will be cut to nine months as of Jan. 1, 2022. A booster dose will be needed to extend their validity. Otherwise, people will see their certificate expire, outgoing Czech Health Minister Adam Vojtěch said. The certificate validity after the booster dose remains indefinite so far. After six months from their second jab (or one single dose Janssen vaccine), people will receive a text message or email saying they can get a booster. People over 60 years old and those suffering from chronic diseases are notified after five months. The Czech Republic is following the recommendation of the European Commission, which urged this move in late November.

The Christmas holidays will not be extended this year, outgoing Education Minister Robert Plaga and the candidate for Minister Petr Gazdík agreed yesterday. Plaga stated this on Twitter, Gazdík confirmed this in a press release. The current minister rejected the proposal to extend the holidays, but according to Gazdík, he agreed that students should be tested before the holidays. Christmas break for Czech schools should take place from Thursday, Dec. 23, to Monday, Jan. 3.  

Some university faculties in Prague have started teaching online in the last two weeks due to the pandemic. The Faculty of Arts of Charles University has been teaching only via distance learning since Monday. Large lectures have been transferred to online teaching at Charles University’s Faculty of Social Sciences. Hybrid teaching is used at the Faculty of Law.  

The Chamber of Deputies approved that people in mandatory quarantine or isolation over Covid-19 will probably receive up to CZK 370 a day in compensation for up to two weeks. To take effect, the relevant bills need to be passed by the Senate, the upper house of parliament, and signed by President Miloš Zeman. The benefit will be paid out retroactively from November until the end of February at the latest. The bonus should prevent a slump in people's income and encourage them to stay at home after having a risk contact with a Covid-positive person. 

Healthcare now still has a reserve to deal with the Covid epidemic. But it has a shortage of thousands of paramedics who are on sick leave or working at nursing homes, outgoing Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said. Staff shortages could complicate care and the planned expansion of vaccinations. He mentioned that volunteers could apply for vaccinations, which can make it easier for hospitals. "Unfortunately, the number of hospitalized and in ICUs is still growing," Babiš said.

Less than one-tenth of the population in the Czech Republic, Romania, Sweden, Poland, Finland, and Bulgaria have so far received a booster injection. The European Union average is 10.5 percent, Hungarian news agency MTI reported. Malta and Austria have given boosters to over 20 percent of the population. Another 14 EU countries provided a booster dose to less than 20 percent but more than 10 percent of their population, with Ireland, Slovenia, Belgium, Denmark, and Estonia in the lead. Figures for the Netherlands, Croatia, Latvia, and Slovakia were not available.

Closing of schools due to coronavirus is the last resort solution for the incoming government formed by SPOLU and Pir/STAN, but it cannot be ruled out, the candidate for Czech education minister Petr Gazdík said in an interview. It is not clear yet whether this year's Christmas holidays will be extended to reduce social contact, Gazdík said, adding he wanted to discuss it with outgoing Education Minister Robert Plaga. The coalition and Gazdík himself will do their best to keep the schools open to the very last moment after businesses, industry and anything else close, Gazdík said. He shared his hope that the epidemic will peak soon and the situation will improve subsequently.

The Prague Municipal Court canceled a part of the Health Ministry's measure under which people have to fill in the arrival form when returning to the Czech Republic from abroad. The ruling puts an end to the current obligation to complete the form when using individual means of transport and upon arrival from the countries with a low risk of the coronavirus infection. The court argued that these measures violate the right to privacy. The ruling takes effect as of Dec. 6, which means the ministry may still adjust its measure in the meantime.

A total of 302 doctors and 24 pediatricians met the call by the Doctors Help Czechia initiative on the first day and reported their readiness to start vaccination against Covid-19 in their offices, the initiative wrote on Twitter today. In addition, 68 nurses and more than 2,000 volunteers reacted to the initiative, whose efforts were jointly supported by PM-designate Petr Fiala and outgoing PM Andrej Babiš (ANO) on Tuesday. The initiative wants the capacities of the hospital-run vaccination centers complemented with the option of getting a jab in participating doctors' offices who would be included on an interactive map.

Covid vaccines for children between 5 and 11 will reach the Czech Republic before Dec. 13 or one week earlier than under the original schedule, the Smart Quarantine team tweeted. There are almost 800,000 children between 5 and 11 in the Czech Republic. Registration of children in that age group will be launched on Dec. 13.

The United States is preparing stricter testing requirements for all travelers entering the United States, including returning Americans, to curb the spread of the Omicron variant. Details should be announced Thursday. The rules would affect Americans living in the Czech Republic who plan to return for the holidays. It is expected that everyone entering the U.S. will have to be tested one day before boarding flights, whether or not they are vaccinated. Testing three to five days after arrival and quarantine are also being considered, according to reports by The Washington Post and New York Times.

People are waiting a week for a PCR test for a week in some regions. The Government Council will discuss expanding capacity, Czech Television reported. Long waits have been reported in the Liberec, Pardubice, Vysočina, Moravia-Silesia, and Hradec Králové regions. The expansion of capacities in many places is hindered mainly by the lack of staff. Testing sites in Prague have the most vacancies but are also facing increased demand. The government's health risks council should discuss a possible increase in testing capacity on Tuesday.  

The Senate should approve the renewal of the nursing allowance, quarantine bonus, and compensation for self-employed people on Dec. 15, if the Chamber of Deputies adopts these government drafts. According to the government's proposal, the nursing allowance should again be 80 percent of the earnings base. Quarantined people should receive a contribution of up to CZK 370 a day to compensate for their salary or wages. According to the proposal, both aids should be paid back from November. The compensation bonus for entrepreneurs is to apply to self-employed persons and partners of limited liability companies, they will be able to apply for up to CZK 1,000 per day.  

Likely future Health Minister of Vlastimil Válek wants a change in the position of chief hygienist, daily Deník N reported. He does not anticipate that Pavla Svrčinová will continue to hold this position. She is a nutritionist and should focus on it, he said. He did not say who should replace Svrčinová.  

Vaccination center at the Sv. Kříž Hospital in Žižkov expanded operating hours and increased capacity. Those interested in coronavirus vaccination can always come on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays without a pre-booked vaccination date. On Mondays and Tuesdays, dates are reserved for clients with registration. The center offers Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. It does not accept self-payers.

People vaccinated against Covid after significant contact with the infected person, for example at home, will have to have a PCR test on the fifth to seventh day. But they do not have to go to quarantine before its negative result. Health Minister Adam Vojtěch told reporters. The chief hygienist has already sent out instructions to the regional hygiene stations. Regional hygienic stations will send a request for a PCR test to these contacts, so they will be covered by public health insurance. If the test is negative, there is no need for further action. Before receiving the test result, the person should monitor their health and wear a respirator. Before now, vaccinated people did not have to undergo a test after contact with an infected person.

Incoming Prime Minister Petr Fiala and departing Prime Minister Andrej Babiš jointly supported an initiative from Doctors Help Czechia (LPČ), which wants to speed up booster vaccinations. It is necessary to show a common purpose and bridge political differences, they said. The initiative called on outpatient physicians to register and offer several hours in their offices for vaccination. According to them, up to 1 million booster doses can be given in a week. Babiš said that it is necessary to increase the capacity of large vaccination centers to up to 150,000 doses a day. They declared a common interest in vaccinating as many people as possible but did not want to talk about differing views on compulsory vaccination.

From Monday, all vaccinated people can register for a booster dose of Covid vaccination, but many won’t get an appointment right away. Appointments will be given to people six months after completing vaccination with either the two-shot or single-shot vaccines. As of Monday, that time has been reduced to five months for people over 60 and the chronically ill.

People can register online and choose whether they want a standard or booster dose after filling in a phone number and receiving a PIN code, which they then enter on the govt.'s vaccination website. New appointments will be added to the booking system and individuals will be notified as soon as they are eligible. Once the capacity of the vaccination points is free, the user will receive a second PIN to book a specific date.

Registration of children aged 5 to 11 for Covid vaccination should start on Dec. 13. The first vaccines from Pfizer / BioNTech, which were approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Nov. 25, should arrive in the Czech Republic during the week of December 20. So far, 300,000 doses have been ordered. The State Institute for Drug Control (SÚKL) said the dose given to children will be about one-third the adult size. The most common side effects in children aged 5 to 11 are similar to those in adolescents and adults aged 12 and over. These include injection site pain, tiredness, headache, redness and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, and chills.

Vlastimil Válek, likely to be the next health minister, would unify how hospitals use monoclonal antibodies to treat patients, temporarily restrict elective care in hospitals, and considerably increase the capacities for PCR tests as his first three steps in fighting Covid-19, he tweeted. "We will see their effect almost immediately," he wrote. The current Health Ministry said supply of PCR tests are sufficient and if need be, they can be increased up to 250,000 tests a day.

The Czech Health Ministry will propose mandatory Covid vaccination for selected professions and people over 60 as of March 1, 2022, outgoing Health Minister Adam Vojtěch told journalists yesterday. The office will propose the duty for the health and social care sectors, firefighters, police, soldiers, and prison service. The incoming government, to be formed in mid-December, has rejected compulsory vaccination, especially that for some age groups. Mandatory vaccination is regulated by the public health protection law.

The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia should consider making Covid vaccination obligatory as it seems to be the only way out of the crisis, Czech President Miloš Zeman told the heads of the three other Višegrad states at a meeting yesterday. Zeman attended the V4 meeting via video as he tested positive for coronavirus four days ago. Zeman said politicians were afraid to say that obligatory vaccination is the only solution because they fear they would lose their voters. The presidents of the V4 countries passed a collective declaration that asked their fellow citizens to be vaccinated against Covid.

Firms that limited production and services due to the ongoing epidemic may get subsidies compensating wages from the Antivirus Program again, the Czech government decided today. They will be getting 60 percent of the paid-out wages up to CZK 29,000. They will be able to get it for the period between Nov. 1 and the end of February. The program is to prevent mass layoffs. Some CZK1.4 billion will be set aside for the program. The money will be mostly from European funds.

Vaccination against Covid should be compulsory for health and social care employees, rescue system members, prison service staff, soldiers, some voluntary firefighters, and people over 60, the Czech Central Crisis Staff agreed today. The Health Ministry should draft a directive on compulsory vaccination. It would be up to the aforementioned corps' directors to persuade their subordinates to seek the vaccination. Czech Police President Jan Švejdar said last week that the police may lose up to 10,000 officers who are opposed to the vaccination. He said he cannot imagine compulsory vaccination of the police.

The Czech Republic is deleting Hong Kong from its traveler map of green countries or regions with a low risk of coronavirus infection as of Tuesday in reaction to the new Omicron variant. Hong Kong will become dark red, or high risk. The Health Ministry normally makes decisions on Friday for the entire week.

Japan will be closed to foreigners over the new coronavirus variant as of Tuesday. The Philippines on Sunday suspended flights from seven European countries including the Czech Republic.

The Liberec hospital today confirmed that a woman has contracted the Omicron variant of coronavirus. She is the first confirmed case of this variant in the Czech Republic. Outgoing Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said on Twitter on Saturday that the woman returned from Namibia via South Africa and Dubai. She was vaccinated and is in isolation. Nova television said the woman was 60 years old and lived in Liberec. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers the Omicron variant, which was detected for the first time in South Africa on Nov. 9, alarming because it is potentially more transmissible than other variants.  

Chief Hygienist Pavla Svrčinová had a positive test for coronavirus. Svrčinová will remain in isolation for two weeks, she has no symptoms of the disease. On Sunday, outgoing Health Minister Adam Vojtěch announced a positive test for Covid. He has a moderate course and wants to work from home.

Four people from Prague traveled along with the woman from the Liberec region who is likely to have contracted the Omicron coronavirus variant. Of the four, two have complete vaccination, one is in the 180-day period after having been ill with the COVID and the fourth was not inoculated. Public health officials have ordered their quarantine and tests. The office is still waiting for the result of their tests. The woman, who returned from Namibia, was traveling with another eight people from the Czech Republic. Along with Prague, they were also from the Central Bohemia and Olomouc regions.

People over the age of 60 and the chronically ill will be able to register for the third dose of covid vaccine from Monday if they are five months after the second vaccination. It was originally scheduled to open on Dec. 1. The outgoing Prime Minister Andrej Babiš announced on social networks that IT systems have managed to prepare for the new wave of registrations more quickly. According to him, the government is preparing to expand vaccination capacities. He also said that in addition to the proven Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, the Czech Republic wants to involve the Moderna vaccine more. It will be distributed to the new vaccination center in Prague's Černý Most.

 A new vaccination center without registration opens today in the shopping center in Černý Most. There are already a total of 16 places in the metropolis where it is possible to get vaccinated without prior registration. These include, for example, the Congress Center in Vyšehrad, the Vinohrady University Hospital, the Nuselská Polyclinic, and the General University Hospital. People can find a list of all Prague vaccination sites without the need for registration here, at the end of the press release. At the same time, it is also possible to use the central reservation system for vaccinations.

The government will today consider whether, due to the effects of the Covidepidemic on the Czech economy, it will renew part of the Antivirus Program according to the proposal from the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. Companies with limited production and services could again receive 60 percent of paid wage compensation up to CZK 29,000. Trade unions and employers have previously called for a renewal of the contribution. According to European rules, it is possible to provide support to companies until the end of June next year. So far, over CZK 50 billion crowns have been paid out of Antivirus.  

The results of new comprehensive measures against the spread of coronavirus valid from Friday should be evaluated in 10 to 14 days, outgoing Health Minister Adam Vojtěch said on Czech Television. According to him, the trend of the epidemic will be evident next week. According to Vojtěch, the risk scenarios of the course of the epidemic envisage the culmination of the epidemic around the Christmas holidays.

Another round of Covid testing is taking place in primary and secondary schools today. As with last week, it applies to unvaccinated people who have not had a new coronavirus infection in the past 180 days. Schools have stockpiles of antigen tests from the state for testing pupils, and they must provide testing for unvaccinated teachers themselves. According to the government's decision, testing will continue in the coming weeks, and should always be repeated on Monday until the end of February.

Employers must complete the first round of testing of unvaccinated workers today. Testing, especially through antigenic self-test kits, is mandatory once a week. It applies to all types of companies, including sole proprietors, and applies to government organizations and municipalities. People who work from home and those who do not interact with other people at work do not have to be tested.  

France, Spain, Portugal, the Azores, and Monaco will move from medium-risk orange to high-risk red on the latest Covid-19 travel map, the Czech Health Ministry has announced. Travelers without proof of vaccination or recovery coming to the Czech Republic from these countries will face tightened restrictions as of today.Other countries have also changed color on the latest map, but conditions for traveling to the Czech Republic will not be affected. See our full story here.