Coronavirus update, Aug. 31, 2021: Czech airports to introduce tighter screening of international arrivals

Employees and clients of social services in the Czech Republic who are not vaccinated against Covid-19 or did not have it of late will get tested for the virus at least once a week as of September, Health Minister Adam Vojtěch told reporters after the government meeting. One of the reasons for this measure is that the Covid vaccination rate mainly among the personnel of social care facilities is not as high as the authorities would like to see, Vojtěch said. He said the testing duty would apply to the providers of healthcare services offering long-term inpatient care and other social inpatient services as they had been identified as the most risky ones in terms of the patients' structure. The tests can be carried out directly in these facilities, but also elsewhere, he noted.

The Czech Republic's gift of 250,000 doses of anti-Covid-19 vaccines from the AstraZeneca and Moderna firms has arrived in Vietnam, the Czech Foreign Ministry tweeted. The Czech government decided on the donation in July. Based on the cabinet's decision, the Czech Republic will donate at least 2.39 million vaccine doses against Covid-19 by the end of the year. They will be sent to Balkan countries, Africa and Asia. The gift is part of the previous agreement of the EU member states' leaders, under which the EU will jointly donate 100 million Covid vaccine doses to third countries. Outside the Covax European initiative, the gifts of are designated for Vietnam, while 30,000 doses will go to Taiwan.

The European Union on Monday recommended its 27 member states to tighten conditions for tourist trips from six countries, including the United States and Israel. The recommendation also applies to Lebanon, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia and Kosovo. The reason is the deteriorating epidemic situation there. Individual member states have the power to determine the conditions for entry into their territory; they do not have to tighten the rules for vaccinated passengers. The recommendation also applies to the Schengen Member States.

There were 241 new Covid cases reported for Monday, up from 208 a week earlier. Hospitalizations rose to 53, from 48 a day earlier and the number of serious cases rose by one to eight. No deaths were reported for Monday, but one was added for Aug. 29. The toll for August is at 26. The incidence number of new cases per 100,000 people over seven days is at 13, up one from a day earlier. The reproduction number R was at 1.05, above the break-even point of 1.0 for a sixth day in a row. For Prague, the incidence number was at 28, up from 27 a day earlier. The R number was at 0.93, under the break-ven point for the second day in a row.