Daily number of COVID-19 tests exceeds 9,000 in Czech Republic on Tuesday

Prague, May 6 (CTK) – The daily number of samples tested for COVID-19 exceeded 9,000 in Czechia for the first time on Tuesday, finding 77 positive cases, i.e. 0.85 percent of all tests, which is an increase against Monday’s 0.5 percent, the Health Ministry’s latest data show.

The 77 newly confirmed cases was the highest number in the past five days.

A total of 7,899 people have been infected since the early March epidemic outbreak in the country.

Since Tuesday evening, the number of deaths of COVID-19 patients has risen by four to 258.

A total of 4,017 people have recovered from the disease, including 190 on Tuesday. The recoveries make up more than a half of the so far registered number of patients.

The number of those currently ill stands at 3,624. Out of them, 295 are in hospitals, including 51 in serious condition.

Institute of Health Information and Statistics (UZIS) director Ladislav Dusek said the numbers of the new confirmed cases have been very low of late with the number of tested samples not falling considerably.

“I dare say the epidemic among the population has subsided and is fading away,” Dusek told reporters today.

The current reproduction number is 0.7, which means that one person with COVID-19 infects less than one another person.

A favourable epidemiological situation is hard to further forecast, Dusek said.

“There is an information system watching whether the situation goes in an undesirable direction,” Dusek said, adding that reactions to a change are the most important of all.

The information system, which combines data from laboratories, hospitals and health offices, makes it possible to find out whether the number of cases has risen at some place and to monitor hospitals’ capacities for COVID-19 patients.

According to the ministry’s statistics, one patient with the disease has died today, the same as on Monday. Four patients died on Monday.

Out of the country’s 14 regions, the death toll is the highest in Prague – 89, followed by Moravia-Silesia and the Karlovy Vary Region with 35 and 24, respectively.

The Zlin Region reports only one dead patient so far, which is the fewest of all regions.

Prague also sees the highest total number of confirmed coronavirus cases, 1,783.

In terms of the patients’ share among the overall population, the situation is the worst in the westernmost Karlovy Vary Region, where there are 139 of them per 100,000 inhabitants. Prague follows with 131 per 100,000, while South Bohemia fares the best of all, with 27 patients per 100,000 inhabitants.