Czech Republic coronavirus updates, July 2: 92 new cases, fewest in past week

Wednesday's rise represents the fewest number of new cases since 89 were recorded on Monday, June 23

Jason Pirodsky

Written by Jason Pirodsky Published on 02.07.2020 09:28:25 (updated on 02.07.2020) Reading time: 2 minutes

There were 92 new COVID-19 cases reported in the Czech Republic on July 1, according to the latest updates provided by the Czech Health Ministry this morning.

Wednesday’s rise represents the fewest number of new cases since 89 were recorded on Tuesday, June 23. On Tuesday, June 30, there were 149 new COVID-19 cases reported.

The dip is expected as blanket testing on OKD employees in the Karviná region finished as of Tuesday. So far, about 17% of the 3,400 coal mine employees have tested positive for COVID-19, with that number expected to rise as the final tests are processed this week.

Over the past seven days, there have been 270 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents reported in the Karviná region, and 33.5 cases per 100,000 in neighboring Frýdek-Místek. Ostrava, which also borders Karviná, has seen about 29 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.

In Prague, meanwhile, there have been only 3.5 confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past week.

Restrictive measures have strengthened in Karviná and Frýdek-Místek this week, while being relaxed in most of the rest of the country as of July 1. Face masks are still required in both localities at indoor locations and public transport.

Face masks are no longer mandatory at indoor locations in Prague, as well as the city’s trams or buses, though they are still required in the Prague metro.

On Tuesday, Prague bid a ceremonial farewell to the end of the coronavirus crisis with a mass dinner for 2,000 people on Charles Bridge (see our photos here). Controversial for some given lingering COVID-19 concerns, the event made headlines in international media including CNN, BBC, and elsewhere.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Czech Republic since the beginning of the outbreak in March has now passed 12,000, standing at 12,046 as of this morning.

There have been 7,797 reported recoveries and 349 COVID-19-related deaths, leaving a total of 3,900 known active cases. That number has surged by more than 1,000 in the past week, but largely due to the blanket testing at the OKD mines and other new cases in Karviná and surrounding regions.

The majority of new cases discovered among OKD employees during the blanket testing have been completely asymptomatic.

There are currently 130 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the Czech Republic, a number that has generally remained stable over the past month. Twelve of those patients are considered to be in serious condition.

After 100 days of operation, the Czech Republic retired their toll-free national phone line (1212) for information about the COVID-19 situation as of yesterday. A new line (224 972 222) run by the Czech Health Ministry has gone into operation in its place.

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