What can be done to prevent the spread of a new, South African variant of coronavirus that has already appeared in Europe?
The government discussed it on Friday, we took crisis measures. We want to prevent the introduction of the disease in the Czech Republic, but it is solved by the entire European Union, which has banned flights from the countries concerned, especially South Africa, although this mutation occurred in Botswana, Hong Kong and unfortunately in Israel and Belgium. This is a measure at European level, we return to the ‘black list of countries’, as we have indicated the countries where new mutations have occurred.
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The inhabitants of these countries are banned from entering the Czech Republic. We cannot prevent Czech citizens from returning to the country, but they must be quarantined for ten days and then tested. This is how it is set up, and we hope that a more massive introduction will be prevented. However, these countries are probably not the primary destination for Czech tourists, nor are so many people coming to us.
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But we must realize how it was with the previous variants. First there was the basic one, then the whole world was dominated by the alpha, then it was pushed out by the delta. It is a global pandemic, but the delta originally originated in India and is now spreading across the planet. Therefore, all scientists are very careful and watch it with great apprehension. The new variant appears to have 32 mutations on the spike protein, so it could be even more infectious than the already very infectious delta.
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Measures such as a ban on arrivals were at the beginning of the pandemic when the covid spread in China, and its outbreak could not be prevented. After all, the virus knows no boundaries.
You are right, it is an airborne disease, it cannot be stopped at the border. You can slow it down, but you won’t stop it completely. So far, only a few countries are affected and the disease can be easily identified. But if it starts to spread to other countries, it will be very complicated.
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We now have record numbers of infections again, and widespread measures are being announced again, although your government has repeatedly assured the public that this will no longer happen. Why did you let it go this far?
This is partly due to the delta variant, which spreads easily, it goes against us. Its reproductive number is 7-8, so one person infects eight people. We also pay for lower vaccinations, which is mainly the case in hospitals, where unfortunately unvaccinated people end up in a more severe condition. Then it is a question of compliance with basic measures, ie wearing respiratory protection, compliance with the ON system (vaccination or disease). That is why we had to take more restrictive emergency measures.
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Vaccination keeps the infection at least a little under control. If you look at the numbers hospitalized in the ICU, with today’s numbers newly infected, we would be at least double without vaccination.
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We have long said that we do not want to restrict those who are vaccinated, but the situation already requires us to target places where there are a lot of people together and there are no measures, ie various discos, clubs, etc. It is not possible for these establishments to work in such situations.
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Fortunately, vaccination keeps the infection at least a little in the meantime. If you look at the numbers hospitalized in the ICU, with today’s numbers newly infected, we would be at least double without vaccination. The second thing we have is drugs, monoclonal antibodies that prevent people from ending intensive care.
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But the government reacted late. At a time when we have almost thirty thousand people infected every day, limiting the opening hours of restaurants seems like trying to put out a fire in a forest that has already burned.
In principle, we are acting in the same way as Germany. The measures were cumulative, it was not that there were no measures. It was OTN (vaccination, tests, disease), then ON. We thought that the set measures would work. They turned out not to work, so we have to work hard. Even so, I think it’s up to everyone to figure out how to handle it.
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There is still talk of what the government will do, how the government will stop the epidemic, but in principle the government as such cannot stop the epidemic. The government is taking systemic steps, ordering measures, offering vaccines, but if people do not behave as needed, no government can stop the epidemic.
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Today we know that we are not able to stop the virus either. We can only push – although not comfortable for everyone – the maximum vaccination of the population to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed. Positive people will always be here, that’s probably clear. The virus will not disappear. It is important that the positive do not end up in hospitals.
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Wasn’t it a mistake to promise people the end of coronavirus?
That was the context of the time, and it was all over Europe. At that time, Europe’s goal was 70% vaccination. Today, it turns out that such a number is insufficient. It is the development of knowledge.
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When the vaccine came, everyone was excited that there was a solution. The truth is, it doesn’t seem to be exactly the point we imagined. We then changed the slogan to “the point behind the difficult course”. This is not the point behind coronavirus as such, but behind the fact that patients will end up in such numbers in hospitals. This is still the case, and even from the IHIS data it can be seen that the protection against difficult course is about eighty percent.
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The declaration of a state of emergency was rapid. What was the turning point? At the beginning of the week, there was a consensus with the governors that there was no need. Even the government literally rejected his announcement a few days ago.
We did not want to restrict free movement, for which we would need an emergency. We followed the path of the “Bavarian model”, which was more of an inspiration. But it is true that this week we started receiving the first signals from the governors, especially the Moravian ones.
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For example, I communicated with the Governor of Moravia-Silesia Ivo Vondrák (YES), who said that it was necessary to declare a state of emergency due to the management system. The head of the Association of Regions, Martin Kuba (ODS), also called on the government to take some measures. So the situation was evolving. I invited the director of the regional hygienic stations and we agreed that nationwide area measures are necessary, it is not possible to intervene only in the regions.
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You talked about the epidemic breaking around Christmas, and it would take ten to fourteen days to evaluate further action. People meet a lot at Christmas. Is it possible that you will tighten your restrictions?
We will solve it. The emergency will end on December 25. There was a debate in the House, Tomio Okamura proposed its abolition, but there was no support. I also consulted the AntiCovid team of the future coalition about the declaration of a state of emergency, no one objected, I am glad that they then held the opinion. We will see how this develops if the House prolongs the state of emergency.
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The epidemic has a braking path, you can’t stop it overnight. We don’t have any signals yet that it could start to break.
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I suppose it could culminate during Christmas. I can’t say exactly how Christmas will go. We will evaluate the measures in about ten days. We will see if they lead to a reduction in mobility, to a reduction in social contacts. The epidemic has a braking path, you can’t stop it overnight. We don’t have any signals yet that it could start to break.
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So can’t you declare a lockdown for two weeks in those 14 days? After all, the fact that the shops did not close last Christmas and the movement of people was not restricted was retrospectively seen as a mistake.
We evaluated the measures very carefully in terms of effectiveness. Widespread closure has not proved to be the most effective measure. We have now banned consumption in so-called food courses in supermarkets or shopping centers, because this is a time when people do not have a respirator in place. There we perceive risk. If a person goes to the store, has a respirator on all the time and follows the basic rules, so even according to the analyzes we have, the risk is not so significant.
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Then there is the risk of mass action. There was a need to limit the various balls and social events that are now taking place. Making a general lockdown is probably the easiest solution, but at the moment we are trying to go specifically where the risk of transmission is significant. However, I cannot rule out that the situation will develop in such a way that some tightening will have to take place.
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What could it look like?
There could be further tightening for mass actions, further limiting the number. It’s in the game. We are also preparing a methodology to test the unvaccinated more. The debate has been going on for a long time and it is being abused a bit. But we believe that there is a certain risk, although I still say that the vaccinated is, according to all studies, less likely to become infected and less infectious.
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But we do not consider a general lockdown and the closure of all stores to be something that would miraculously resolve the situation.
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Another thing is the question of contacts during Christmas. We cannot prevent people from meeting. But we will make a strong recommendation that people, if at all possible, do not have big family reunions and try to spend them in the closest possible circle.
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The most important thing is for people to be vaccinated to prevent hospital overcrowding. That’s the strategy. Everything else is just temporary braking.
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It was here last year and people are getting more and more tired.
I understand it and I understand it humanly. It’s long. On the other hand, if you look at the map of Europe, there is no country where the situation with the covid does not worsen. We all fight it. We must try to curb the epidemic now, but the virus will not disappear anyway.
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The most important thing is for people to be vaccinated to prevent hospital overcrowding. That’s the strategy. Everything else is just a temporary slowdown, when the epidemic gains strength again. Even if we do a lockdown, it solves the situation for a few weeks, as soon as we allow it, the cases will grow again.
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Prime Minister Babiš said on Thursday that mandatory vaccinations of selected professional groups and seniors 60+, perhaps even 50+, are inevitable. On the contrary, the opposition that takes over the government is strictly opposed. So what will you propose next week?
I am a little taken aback by the debate that this will be an unprecedented attack on human rights. We have a number of compulsory vaccinations in the Czech Republic for certain groups that need to be vaccinated against jaundice, so in principle it would only be another compulsory vaccination. This is not a breakthrough. Just adding vaccinations to the covid for certain selected occupational and age groups in a decree of the Ministry of Health.
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We are only consulting on the specific content these days, so I do not want to draw conclusions yet. In general, it is the elderly and the high-risk professions who come into contact with patients or, conversely, can become more infected due to extensive contact with the public. For example, the integrated rescue system, paramedics, social workers, that is the framework.
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Are you considering a third, booster dose to be mandatory?
That’s the way it is. The European Commission on Thursday recommended, and seems to amend the certificate regulation accordingly, that the vaccination will be valid for nine months. This will apply throughout Europe and it will probably be necessary for people to be re-vaccinated so that the protection remains with them. Mandatory vaccination would make no sense if we told them to be vaccinated, but then they don’t have to. This will not achieve the highest possible vaccination coverage and lasting protection.
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Today we have data that we need a third dose that will significantly strengthen the immune system. Nobody knows if that’s enough.
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Today we have data that we need a third dose that will significantly strengthen the immune system. Nobody knows if that’s enough. Vaccines are also being developed that will be specifically modified for the delta variant and can be much more effective.
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In other words – may it be mandatory to be revaccinated regularly every six months?
Everything can happen, but I have no evidence. I don’t want to panic unnecessarily now.
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It has long been insisted that vaccination be voluntary. Now there is a turnaround. It seems that it was just expected which country would go first – and Austria did it.
I wouldn’t say we were waiting for Austria. The debate has also taken place in the last two months at the ministry. We discussed this a lot with Deputy Koziar Vašáková. When you look at the media space, more and more experts are leaning towards it.
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But they have leaned to it before, when the ministry refused.
One thing is, of course, a debate in the Ministry of Health, another a debate in the government. I think everyone is aware that this will be the case in other countries as well. We are not able to eradicate the virus. No system in the world can handle this, and we must therefore protect hospitals. Germany also has problems maintaining hospitals.
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Vaccination is proving to be the only solution, so we need to vaccinate the population as much as possible. It is in the public interest to target high-risk groups at the moment. I believe that there is no other option. If hospitals are overwhelmed, it has an impact on the health of the entire population. People won’t get access to surgery, basic care – and that would be a tragedy.
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