The number of coronavirus cases started to increase significantly since the beginning of this week due to a new epicenter of the outbreak among miners in Karviná in the east of the Czech Republic.
The daily increase in the number of coronavirus cases has remained quite low, with only a few dozen of newly infected people reported last week, but on Monday, there were 111 new COVID-19 patients.
Most of them were employees of the Darkov mine in Karviná, which lies in Silesia at the border with Poland. That day, 82 employees and six of their family members tested positive for the coronavirus. By Wednesday morning, the number of infected employees at the mine rose to 113.
According to health authorities, the number of cases in this area will likely continue to grow. On Monday, 791 employees of the mine were tested for COVID-19. However, authorities currently do not consider introducing blanket testing.
Although the cases in the mine have a significant impact on national statistics, according to experts, it is better that the virus occurred in such a close community as tracking contacts of those infected is easier.
“Given that the increase in the number of cases is mainly due to one significant outbreak in OKD in Silesia, in a non-risk part of the population, nevertheless, this situation is not yet important for the general epidemiological situation in the Czech Republic,” said epidemiologist Rastislav Maďar, reassuring that Czechia is still managing the pandemic very well.
The Darkov mine has 1,800 employees. A total of 8,400 people work in the mines in Karviná.
Title image: In this photo taken Friday, April 22, 2011, miners are waiting for an elevator in the Rozna uranium mine near the town of Dolni Rozinka, Czech Republic. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
