Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Czechs, Slovaks report surge in COVID-19 cases, hospitals stretched

Czechs, Slovaks report surge in COVID-19 cases, hospitals stretched

The Czech Republic and Slovakia reported fresh surges in coronavirus infections on Wednesday and again had to start limiting non-urgent hospital care to cater for admissions of COVID-19 patients.
Slovakia, a country of 5.5 million, reported a record high 7,055 new cases for Tuesday, and the Czech Republic, twice the size, reported 14,539 cases, not far from an all-time peak seen in January.

Both countries have been tightening restrictions but they have been far more lax than in previous waves thanks to partial shielding from vaccination and infections affecting younger people.

But hospitals, especially in northern Slovakia, have reported strained capacity and many in both countries said were putting off non-urgent procedures.

In Germany, cases also surged to all-time records this week.

The outgoing Czech government of Prime Minster Andrej Babis has rejected imposing lockdowns, saying vaccinations were the way to tame the resurgent pandemic.

The cabinet will meet on Friday to consider further measures, he said.

A leading Czech epidemiologist said management of the pandemic was being caught up in politics amid a transition of power following the Oct 8-9 election.

“It will take weeks to establish a new government, while the health ministry seems to have no clear vision,” Petr Smejkal, head epidemiologist at the prestige Prague IKEM hospital and a member of the government’s team studying health risks, said in an interview on Czech Radio.

“It is kind of deja vu of what we saw last year,” he said, referring to a 2020 autumn surge amid a lack of government action that put the country among the worst-affected nations in Europe.

In Slovakia, hospitalisations stood at 2,478, and 79.8% of those patients were not fully vaccinated, Health Ministry data showed.

A hospital in Zilina, in northern Slovakia, had to transfer 16 COVID patients between Saturday and Monday, as it was trying to clear space for new admissions, its spokeswoman told Slovak daily paper Hospodarske Noviny.

“What we cleared filled back in very fast. Of course, we will provide care for every patient in acute condition, but this is not sustainable in the long term,” Lenka Zatekova told the paper.

Czech hospitalisations rose to 3,295, including 462 people in intensive care, still just above one third of peaks in March. Daily death rates have approached or crossed 50 in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia in recent days.

A hospital in the eastern Czech city of Znojmo near the Slovak border said it was temporarily halting planned procedures except cancer treatment and acute cases, as it had 40 COVID-19 patients, more than double its infectious ward capacity of 15 beds.

With 58.7% of the total population vaccinated, the Czech Republic ranks below the EU average of 64.6%, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Slovakia’s vaccination rate is even lower, at 44.8%.

The Czech Health Ministry started a new vaccination campaign this week, using photographs of COVID-19 victims accompanied by slogans like: “He did not find the time to get vaccinated.”
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
A monster hit and a billion-dollar toy empire
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
Canada: Nurse Suspended and Fined 93 Thousand Dollars After Stating the World’s Most Well-Known Fact Since the Creation of Adam and Eve, That There Are Only Two Genders
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
U.S. Treasury Secretary Whitney Bessent Backs Stablecoins to Boost Treasury Demand
Spain to Declare Disaster Zones After Massive Wildfires
Three-Minute Battery Swap Touted as Future of EVs
Beijing Military Parade to Showcase Weapons Advances
U.S. Tech Stocks Slide on AI Boom Concerns
White House Confirms Talks Over Intel Stake
Trump Suggests U.S. Could Support Ukraine ‘By Air’
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
UK Government Tries to Sue 4chan for Breaching Online Safety Act
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
"Every Centimeter of Your Body Is a Masterpiece": The Shocking Meta Document Revealed
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
China Requires Data Centres to Source Majority of AI Chips Locally, For Technological Sovereignty
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
OpenAI’s ‘PhD-Level’ ChatGPT 5 Stumbles, Struggles to Even Label a Map
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×