Prymula: “New Restriction to be Introduced Next Week”

New cases reached 2,913 on Thursday, the second-highest figure on record. Hospitalisations rose to 670, out of which 131 people were in serious condition. The number of active cases stands at 30,425.

During today’s press conference, the Minister of Health Roman Prymula stated that further restrictions will be introduced next week, regarding mainly leisure activities.

“The growth in the number of new infections from last week was stopped, we got under three thousand daily cases. Compared to last week, we do not see such dramatic growth,” said Roman Prymula. However, he admitted that the epidemic in the Czech Republic is growing, compared to the situation with Israel, Great Britain, France, or Spain.

“The number of people in need of lung ventilation and the number of deaths is increasing. If the disease will spread more among the elderly, we must expect a higher mortality rate,” he added.

“The share of patients in the risk group 65 plus is growing, the increase is almost two hundred percent,” described Prymula.

Prymula added that the number of employees at call centers was increased from 600 to 850. “We want everyone who is positive to receive timely information. Within 48 hours, everyone should know the result of the test,” he specified.

The capacity of beds with ventilators is almost reached at Prague hospitals, some surgeries and treatments could be postponed.

The Mayor of Prague Zdeněk Hřib, said that the city is ready to provide gyms and one dormitory for the infected patients in a serious condition. These facilities are reserved for emergency cases and in case of the lack of hospital beds.

The number of infected healthcare professionals has also grown significantly recently. Among nurses, the number of people infected increased from three to 433 from August 20.

“The number of infected healthcare professionals is growing in line with the epidemiological burden because most healthcare professionals become infected in everyday life,” said Ladislav Dušek, director of the Institute of Health Information and Statistics (ÚZIS).