Czechia Considers Mandatory Vaccination for Health Workers and People Over 60

The Czech government will on Wednesday consider making COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for workers in key professions and people over the age of 60 after the daily tally of new coronavirus cases hit a record high.

Authorities said 28,469 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Tuesday, more than double the 12,371 reported for Tuesday of last week.

Screening increased this week with the introduction of twice-weekly tests at all workplaces.

The previous one-day record was just under 28,000 on 25 November last year.

Experts say up to 50,000 cases a day could be recorded in the coming weeks due to a surge in the Omicron variant of the virus.

Omicron is now the dominant coronavirus variant in the central European country of 10.7 million people.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s centre-right government will consider what further steps to take after shortening quarantine and isolation times as part of new measures while also launching mandatory testing of employees at companies from this week.

Asymptomatic essential healthcare workers and social service personnel who test positive for COVID-19 are allowed to continue working.

Hospitalizations, which peaked at more than 7,000 in early December, dropped to 1,635 on Tuesday from 1,761 reported for Monday.