While the news of Czech Republic being hailed as one of Europe’s success stories in managing the pandemic was still in the air, there are chances it might be on the brink of a second lock down following the rapid increase in covid-19 cases. A new peak of 8,618 cases was recorded on Friday in the country of 10.7 million, up more than 3,000 on the previous day and significantly more per capita than any other European state.
Friday’s figure, which raises the quantity of contaminations recorded in the initial 10 days of October over that for the entire of September, left government officials and health specialists scrambling for arrangements within days of introducing a state of emergency last week. The Czech Medical Chamber and the health minister have called on Czech doctors living abroad to return home to help fight the virus. Medical students and people with medical training have also been encouraged to come forward. More than 1,000 qualified nurses who’ve left the profession have offered to come back to help.
“I may have gotten carried away,” Czech PM Andrej Babis, a populist billionaire, said in a televised speech on September 21, as he admitted easing corona virus restrictions too early in the summer. He also admitted that “perhaps masks should have remained obligatory throughout the summer”, adding that he lifted the restrictions because he “did not know” how the public would have reacted if they were kept mandatory. When the government lifted the strict mask mandate over the summer, most people left theirs at home. The virus was slowly starting to make a comeback. Even the health minister conceded his country’s victory lap was premature.
The Czech prime minister, Andrej Babiš.
What was perceived as a victory came back to haunt the country as Babiš, who initially vetoed proposals to reimpose mask rules before backtracking, has sought to deflect blame partly onto a supposedly non-compliant public, which he said was less willing than before to follow the rules.
“The virus is behaving differently than at the beginning of the year,” he said last week. “People’s opinion on wearing a face mask has fundamentally changed, and 7% of Czechs never wear one.”
He said at the weekend that he would accept whatever recommendation the team made regarding the need for a second lock down, Czech Radio reported. All sporting, cultural and religious events with more than 10 people indoors and 20 outdoors are prohibited from Monday, and secondary schools and universities have been restricted to distance learning.
Graphic – New coronavirus cases in the Czech Republic
