The Czech Republic was hit by the coronavirus to a relatively low degree, with only a maximum of three percent of the population having been infected, Director of the Institute of Health Information and Statistics Ladislav Dušek said while reporting on the results of a new collective immunity study.
The study looked at the amount of antibodies formed in the body after contact with coronavirus, which revealed 107 Czechs who tested positive for COVID-19 out of a total of 26,549. The fewest positive amount of cases per 100,000 people were in Brno while the most were seen in the Litovel region.
The town of Litovel itself was in two-week quarantine over the rapid spread of coronavirus last month.
Even in the most affected localities, the number of infected individuals has not reach five percent. In Prague and Brno, it is less than 0.6 percent.
“Positive results for antibodies range from zero to three percent depending on the location,” said Dušek. According to him, this is a consequence of the fact that the Czech Republic introduced restrictions early on.
In the second wave, the resistance will be limited
“The main conclusion of the study is that the degree of immunization in Czech society is very low. We are talking about per mille units,” said Health Minister Adam Vojtěch. Furthermore, about 27 to 38 percent of people infected with coronavirus are asymptomatic.
According to the Health Minister, there is no reason to change the plan for loosening restrictions, but it is crucial to protect risk groups. Moreover, it is necessary to focus on local outbreaks, added Vojtěch.
“If the second wave comes in the autumn, we must expect reduced resistance,” he continued.
Currently, Czechia sees positive development in the spread of coronavirus. As Dušek pointed out, the share of infected people is declining.
The reproduction number dropped to 0.7 percent, meaning that one person infects less than one other person. The number of people who have recovered from the disease is also rising significantly. The number of people cured of COVID-19 in the Czech Republic exceeded 4,000. Currently, there are 7,979 confirmed coronavirus cases.
