Czech Republic coronavirus updates, July 28: 195 new cases Monday, regional risk map coming next week

There were 195 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the Czech Republic Monday, according to the latest statistics posted by the Czech Health Ministry this morning.

The number of new cases Monday represents a rise over the number of cases reported over the weekend (132 on Saturday and 115 on Sunday) but a decrease compared to numbers reported last week, which reached a high of 279 on Saturday. There are generally significantly fewer tests performed over the weekend.

A portion of the new cases last week were traced back to a party in Prague 2 that has resulted in more than 100 COVID-19 infections.

Largely due to that outbreak, Prague has reported about 24 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days, the fifth highest total in the Czech Republic.

That number is still exceeded by districts in the Moravian-Silesian region, the site of the largest Czech outbreak and in total the most-afflicted area of the country.

Karviná has reported 41 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past week, while neighboring Frýdek-Místek has reported 36 new cases per 100,000 residents. Those Moravian-Silesian districts are no longer the most affected in the Czech Republic over the past week, however.

Jihlava, in the Vysočina Region, has reported about 54 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past week, while Prachtice in South Bohemia has reported 51 new cases per 100,000 residents.

Due to the increase in cases, Vysočina has re-introduce the requirement to wear a face mask in medical facilities and pharmacies from Wednesday.

In total, the Czech Republic has now reported 15,516 cases of COVID-19 since March. There have been 373 COVID-19-related deaths and 11,315 recoveries, after a re-assessment of recoveries over the weekend significantly raised that number.

Currently, there are 3,828 known active COVID-19 cases in the Czech Republic, with 150 of those cases hospitalized.

From Saturday, the Czech Republic has re-introduced the requirement to wear a face mask at events with more than 100 people. From yesterday, the country has lowered the maximum number of attendees allowed at events from 1,000 to 500.

According to Czech Health Minister Adam Vojtěch, the Czech Republic would need about 3.5 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine if and when produced. Under a new agreement, the European Union would handle the purchase of such a vaccine and distribute amongst its member states.