Babiš: “We Definitely Need to Tighten Anti-COVID-19 Restrictions”

The Czech government will discuss further tighten coronavirus measures on Thursday afternoon, PM Andrej Babiš said on Wednesday evening.

As CNN Prima reports, Babiš said that “it is not yet time for relaxation and there is no room for complacency in epidemic control. On the contrary, it is necessary to consider how to enforce or tighten existing measures.”

The prime minister noted that the number of newly infected began to grow this week. “We must address measures that should manage the pandemic better than before,” he added.

“We are in a situation where people who comply with the measures are upset and feel that the government is insufficiently enforcing them. Then there are other people who do not follow the measures and they are upset that we are tightening them.”

Babiš did not give any details on the new measures.

Finally, the PM confirmed that “the government will not make changes to the anti-epidemiological system PES”.

Latest statistics

The health ministry recorded 9,144 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, down from 9,605 new cases reported on the same day a week earlier.

In total, 956,155 infections have been recorded since March. Hospitalizations stood at 6,043.

Officials have sought to cut the number of hospitalized patients to 3,000. The ministry reports 222,450 people have received a vaccine shot.

The official death toll from COIVD-19 reached 15,791 on Wednesday, rising by 173 on the day, according to Health Ministry data.

The figure includes 80 deaths reported on Tuesday and the rest for previous days as reports come in with a delay.