Czechs record biggest daily jump in coronavirus cases since end-June

PRAGUE: The Czech Republic reported its biggest daily jump in new coronavirus cases since the end of June on Wednesday as a recent uptick in infections persisted.

The central European country of 10.7 million recorded 290 new cases on Tuesday, Health Ministry data showed, bringing the total number of cases detected to 17,286.

Of those, 11,812 have recovered and 383 have died of COVID-19.

Almost a quarter of the new cases, 77, were in the eastern region of Moravia-Silesia, bordering Poland, where many cases recently appeared among miners and their families.

The overall number of active cases reached 5,091.

Some epidemiologists have suggested that the virus has weakened, pointing to a relatively low number of people being hospitalised, currently totalling 123.

Also, the daily number of those who died in connection with the coronavirus has been below five since May 20.

However, health officials have cautioned that some measures taken to curb the illness are likely to return after the summer holidays when cities will be more crowded and the flu season will arrive.

Prague chief public health officer Zdenka Jagrova told daily paper Pravo that people in the capital will definitely be required to wear face masks again at some point inside public spaces such as shopping malls and on public transport.