Czech Republic Reports 8 618 New Coronavirus Cases in One Day

The Czech Republic’s daily count of new coronavirus cases rose to 8,618 on Friday, the fourth record tally in a row, Health Ministry data showed.

The total number of cases rose to 109 374.

The government has announced tighter anti-pandemic measures this week, while trying to avoid a lockdown.

More than 38,000 cases have been identified in October so far, compared to over 43 000 in the whole of September.

1,386 cases were registered in Prague, the highest figure since the beginning of the epidemic.

There are 1,893 patients in the hospitals, 412 in critical condition. 25 people died on Friday, more than 200 this week, bringing the total number to 905.

The government has ordered sports facilities, including pools and fitness clubs, and all cultural venues to be shut for two weeks from Monday.

Restaurants have to close by 8:00 p.m., with capacity limited to four people per table.

Besides the soaring number of new cases, the number of those who require treatment jumped to 1 893 as of Friday afternoon, compared to 1 028 on September 30.

Some hospitals were forced to postpone planned procedures as they were making space for COVID-19 patients.

Another source of concern is the rapidly growing number of doctors, nurses and other medical staff being infected, according to the Czech Medical Chamber.