Sunday’s increase in covid-19 cases was the lowest since early September, but was not the lowest in a week – growth was lower on Monday – and was the worst Sunday result since the pandemic spread to the Czech Republic. Prague contributed about a quarter to Sunday’s growth, where, according to data from the city hygiene station, covid-19 was confirmed in 103 people.
As the epidemiologically worst-off region, the capital is preparing for new measures against the spread of covid-19. From Wednesday, curtains will be in the shops and restaurants and bars will be closed for the night.
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In Prague, the relative number of people infected per week increased to 72 per hundred thousand inhabitants, but this is not currently the worst affected region in the Czech Republic. The highest morbidity is currently in the district of Pelhřimov with 98 cases per hundred thousand inhabitants and over 50 patients per hundred thousand inhabitants is still in eight other districts. The situation is also worse than in Prague in the Hodonín region with 79 positives per hundred thousand inhabitants.
The Minister of Health Adam Vojtěch admitted that in other regions the measures could be tightened if they fell into a higher category at the epidemiological traffic light, where so far only Prague is. “The situation may develop unfavorably in the Hodonín region, for example. This region is on the border of green and orange and the number of cases there is relatively high, “said Vojtěch.
An increasing number of cases are linking hygiene to more frequent and targeted testing. From Tuesday to Thursday, the daily number of tests was around 11,000, on Friday the laboratories processed more than 12,900 samples – this was the maximum so far, which also resulted in by far the most positive results recorded in the Czech Republic during the pandemic. Less is usually tested at the weekend, on Saturday the number of tests decreased to about seven thousand, which was more than a week earlier, although the difference was not as high as on weekdays. The number of Sunday tests will be published by the Ministry of Health in the early evening.
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However, according to the head of the station, Zdeněk Jágrová, Prague hygienists in particular have problems with the number of infected contacts, which they have to trace and send for tests. At the end of last working week, Jágrová admitted that her subordinates were not catching up. In less than a third of cases, the origin of the disease cannot be traced.
Therefore, Minister Vojtěch now wants to negotiate with hygienists as well as members of the smart quarantine team about the possible strengthening of hygienic stations, as well as changes to the rules for tracing. According to Petr Šnajdárek, a member of the smart quarantine management team, hygienists should not focus so much on asymptomatic cases. “The methodology will have to be corrected – whether it is really necessary to call all the second, third or fourth contacts,” he said.
Direct contacts between infected people and people with clear symptoms are also crucial, according to Chief Hygienist Jarmila Rážová. Conversely, people who have met a patient but do not have symptoms would not need to be quarantined. “They should be instructed on how to behave,” Rážová said. She herself tested positive last week, after which a number of people, including the Minister of Health, had to quarantine, even though they themselves were not ill and were tested negative.
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