Czech Republic coronavirus updates, July 20: 90 new cases marks new high, increase in cases in Prague

There were 90 new COVID-19 cases reported in the Czech Republic on Sunday, according to the latest data released by the Czech Health Ministry this morning. The country now has the most active coronavirus cases it has ever had, according to official numbers.

This is the first time in several days that the number of new cases has dipped below 100; however, officials performed 2,334 new tests on Sunday, much lower than in previous days. In contrast, on Friday, almost 4,000 people were tested and 3.29 percent of them were positive.

There are now 4,826 known active cases in the country, roughly 30 cases more than the country’s previous mid-April maximum.

More than 8,700 people have recovered from the novel coronavirus since the pandemic began. Currently, 134 people are hospitalized with the disease, 21 of which are in serious condition, and there have been 359 deaths in the country. Most COVID-19 deaths were reported in Prague and the least around Zlin, south Moravia.

There have now been 13,945 COVID-19 cases in the Czech Republic since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis in mid-March.

The government’s healthcare appointee and former Central Crisis Staff head Roman Prymula said the daily increase of cases is not large enough to impact the effectiveness of the country’s healthcare system in a way that would legitimate fears of a second wave of the virus.

“The number does not really reflect what is happening in the healthcare system. Many people are spreading the virus, but the course of their infection is clinically negligible. When we look at the healthcare system, we currently have 131 hospitalized patients, ten persons with heavier symptoms, and one in need of a cardiopulmonary bypass,” Prymula told Czech television. “This means that the current situation cannot really be compared to the beginning of the first wave.”

Prymula added that a second wave could be considered if the daily increase in cases was between 300 to 400.

However, over the past week, Prague saw a slight uptick in the number of coronavirus cases in the city. Eighty-three new cases of COVID-19 were uncovered in Prague last week, an increase over the 69 cases reported the previous week, according to figures released by Prague public health officials. The capital city now has approximately 7.78 people per 100,000 infected with coronavirus.

Despite the fact that Health Minister Adam Vojtech (for ANO) said Friday the situation in Prague was “more or less constant,” meaning that there are no major clusters and the situation is not escalating.

There are several regions with clusters of coronavirus cases, including the Karviná region, the neighboring Frydek-Mistek region, the Mělník region north of Prague, Vlčnov in the Uherské Hradiště region, the Kutna Hora region in central Bohemia, and Jihlava in the Vysocina Region.

Starting today, sanitary measures will be tightened in Moravia-Silesia over the increase in COVID-19 cases. Residents in the entire region, not just the Karviná district, will have to wear face masks indoors and on public transit.

Residents traveling from the Moravia-Silesia region will no longer have to be quarantined in Slovenia. It’s important to note that Croatia remains on the Slovenian list of medium-risk countries, according to the Czech Embassy in Ljubljana. The embassy warns that Czechs coming home from Croatia cannot spend part of their holiday in Croatia without quarantine; instead, Czechs have 12 hours to transfer from Croatia to Czech Republic while in Slovenian territory.