In the past week, the Czech Republic has seen an increase in respiratory infections and positive Covid tests. On Monday alone, there were 4,483 new cases of Covid, bringing the total to nearly 20,000 new cases since the beginning of December.
Currently, 932 people are hospitalized due to Covid, with 50 in intensive care units. Health statisticians have recorded 132 confirmed cases per 100,000 people over the last seven days.
The previous week also saw nearly 10,000 people test positive for Covid-19. Before Monday’s increase, the highest daily number was 3,486 newly detected infections from the last Monday, which was the highest since mid-October 2022.
Last week, health officials recorded nearly 34,000 test results, mostly antigen tests. The numbers could potentially be higher for this week.
The incidence of acute respiratory diseases nationwide increased by 5.8 percent to 1,542 cases per 100,000 people last week. A more significant increase is observed in flu diseases, where illness increased by 29.4 percent compared to the previous week.
“The values of acute respiratory infections and flu diseases correspond to the season, with local epidemic foci but no signs of a widespread epidemic,” stated the health service.
The epidemic threshold is around 1,700 confirmed cases per 100,000 people.
As Helena Jiřincová, the head of the National Reference Laboratory for Influenza and Non-Influenza Diseases of the State Health Institute, reminded us last week, the flu arrived a little earlier this season than in the past. It is still uncertain whether the epidemic will come before or after Christmas.