The opposition criticized the procedure and called on Vojtěch to resign. She pointed out that the ministry’s management and hygienists had repeatedly stated that the situation in the region was calming down.
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“I certainly do not intend to resign,” the minister responded. According to him, “it is not appropriate” to connect the situation in the Karviná region with developments in other parts of the region. “There is no connection between when we said that the situation within the local outbreak in OKD is under control and the situation that is now. Outbreaks – and there are several of them – have nothing to do with it,” said Vojtech.
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According to him, the regional hygienists informed the ministry about their plan to order restrictions in the whole region two days ago. They consulted on the measures. “The regional hygiene station has that responsibility. It is up to them how they proceed,” the minister said. According to him, the restriction regulation was not happy with immediate effect, the measures could apply only from midnight, for example.
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At Friday’s press conference, the Moravian-Silesian Regional Hygienist Pavla Svrčinová, when asked whether the measures had to be introduced so suddenly, stated that she had discussed the situation with the Minister of Health and there was a clear demand to introduce them as soon as possible. “I discussed it with the minister and there really was a request as soon as possible,” she told reporters.
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Vojtech also denied that the introduction of measures was caused by the “malfunction of smart quarantine”.
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On Wednesday, Vojtěch said that there were no new cases in the outbreak in Karviná, where the disease had spread mainly among the workers of the OKD mining company and their loved ones. “The numbers may be relatively favorable, because the outbreak in the Karviná region seems to be gradually calming down. No massive community spread of the disease has been confirmed,” he said at the time. According to him, the number of new cases increased in the rest of the country. He said on Friday that “if we have outbreaks in practically the whole region” and it is a matter of community spread, the measures of hygienists are appropriate.
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The Minister also mentioned cases where the condition of those infected with a mild course of the disease worsened after a week or ten days and ended up in the hospital in the intensive care unit. The Ministry was informed by the Moravian-Silesian Regional Coordinator on Thursday. According to Vojtěch, the information was dramatic and an increase in the number of hospitalizations would mean a “certain exclamation mark”.
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If the situation in the region did not improve in the next two weeks, more stringent measures would have to be taken, according to the minister. He did not specify what the steps would be.
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