More than 400 Czech police officers are in preventative quarantine over coronavirus

Prague, March 17 (CTK) – A total of 419 police officers are in a preventive quarantine in the Czech Republic over the coronavirus infection outbreak, their number rose by 145 in a day, the police have tweeted.

So far only one Czech police officer has been tested positive for the novel coronavirus. He comes from a district police station in Litovel in the Olomouc Region, north Moravia.

This was one of the 21 municipalities in the area that sanitary officers closed on Monday due to a high number of coronavirus-infected or potentially infected inhabitants.

The condition of the infected policeman is good, regional police chief Tomas Landsfeld said. “He is one of the cases without any symptoms,” Landsfeld told public Czech TV today, adding that the officer was tested for having contact with a coronavirus-infected person.

A total of 383 people have contracted the coronavirus in the Czech Republic with a population of 10.6 million as of this morning, while the condition of three patients is very serious.

The police headquarters announced last Sunday that the police would limit their “trivial” routine activities, such as preventive traffic checks, in which they get in contact with people to prevent the coronavirus infection. The police work at stations will also be regulated, along with the regime in police cafeterias.

Police President Jan Svejdar issued his internal recommendations for the corps on Saturday.

However, Svejdar said previously that this did not mean that the police would stop working. They just limit some routine activities. They were also recommended to process as much of their agenda as possible in a contactless way.

The Czech police corps is comprised of some 40,000 officers.

The Litovel vicinity, from which the only policeman with the coronavirus comes, was closed in the night to Monday over an extreme high coronavirus incidence. There were 25 confirmed coronavirus cases in the locality and up to 1,000 contacts with the positive cases on Monday, Regional Governor Ladislav Oklestek said.

The government has restricted free movement of people all over the Czech Republic to slow the coronavirus spread as of Monday, March 16, until 6:00, March 24 at least. The ban does not apply to trips to work, healthcare facilities and to the family if need be, to essential shopping and other necessary activities.

All foreigners are banned from entering the Czech Republic and Czechs are not allowed to travel abroad as of today, with some exceptions.