Czech Republic coronavirus updates, October 29: 12,977 new cases, new Health Minister to be appointed

There were 12,977 new COVID-19 cases reported in the Czech Republic on Wednesday, according to the latest data published by the Czech Health Ministry this morning.

Though Wednesday's number was a slight dip from Tuesday's record-breaking high of 15,663 cases, the country has reported more than 65,000 cases over the past seven days.

The Czech Republic remains the most-affected state in the European Union, and one of the most affected countries in the world, with about 1,448 reported COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. The number of cases has also been surging in Belgium, which has reported about 1,424 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents in the past fourteen days.

The Czech Republic has also reported 13.5 COVID-19-related deaths per 100,000 residents over the past 14 days, almost twice as many as the next European country (Belgium, with 6.8 COVID-19-related deaths per 100,000 residents).

There are currently 174,965 known active COVID-19 cases in the Czech Republic. Since the start of the epidemic in March, a total of 297,013 cases have been reported.

The number of COVID-19 patients in Czech hospitals has been quickly rising, and now stands at 6,624. Among those, 962 patients are considered to be in serious condition.

According to a report in Aktualne, President Miloš Zeman will appoint doctor Jan Blatný the new Minister of Health today. He will replace Roman Prymula.

Last night, a new nationwide curfew went into effect starting at 9 p.m. Going out during nighttime hours between 9 pm until 4:59 am is banned with the exception of travel for the purposes of going to work, conducting business activities, or urgent travel.

Retail shops must close between 8 pm to 5 am from Monday to Saturday and close completely on Sundays; pharmacies, gas stations, and airport and railway station shops are an exception.

In light of these new measures, Prague's integrated public transit will stop running at 10 p.m. starting Monday, Nov. 2, according to iDnes. Night trams and buses will operate instead on a different schedule to help healthcare workers and other essential workers working night shifts.

Read more about the restrictions here in complete detail.

The virus continues to spread across the country. The most affected region in the country is Benešov, just south of Prague, with 1,142 positive new cases per 100,000 residents. the Cheb region is the least affected, reporting just 276 new cases per 100,000 residents.

In the Prague region, officials reported 1,102 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, a national holiday. There are now around 23,000 people infected in the capital city.