The situation in the Czech Republic is deteriorating, and the coronavirus measures are not working, according to Czech Health Minister Jan Blatný. He urged people to start respecting government restrictions, and stressed that the only way out of this situation is vaccination and compliance with the rules.
“The measures we have put in place are not working. People do not follow them,” said Blatný. According to him, the government is doing its best. “I wish we could vaccinate faster, and it will happen. Let’s endure it, I know it’s been a long time. But the fact is that we will not defeat the disease other than by vaccinating and following the measures. Circumventing them is not a cool thing, it is a proof of ruthlessness towards others,” said Blatný, adding that the British coronavirus mutation is spreading in the Czech Republic.
The minister then added that because of the pandemic, doctors have not been able to provide proper medical care for a year.
“We are not able to ensure, for example, cancer prevention, as our hospitals are overloaded,” stated Blatný, recalling Thursday’s International Day against Cancer. “In some hospitals, we only have a few places in the ICU or ARO. It cannot go on like this,”
“I know that the disease has been here for a long time, but we don’t want to tighten the measures up anymore, because first, we would have to have your trust in doing so,” Blatný added.
Jan Blatný called on people to persevere and try to follow the measures as much as possible. “Let’s face it. We have to endure it. I appeal to you: Let’s meet as little as possible, let’s not travel around the republic. When we meet someone, we must have a respirator,“ said Blatný, adding that he as a minister has no real power to enforce restrictions, so he must rely on people.
The number of new cases of coronavirus in the Czech Republic is rising. On Wednesday, the laboratories detected 9,567 infected, which is almost 1,100 more than a week ago. On Wednesday, 5,811 patients with COVID-19 required hospital care, which was about 250 fewer patients in the week-on-week comparison, according to updated data on the Ministry of Health’s website.
Since the beginning of the epidemic, a new coronavirus diagnosis in the Czech Republic has been confirmed in 1,013,352 people. Currently, about 94,500 people are affected by the infection. The death toll has risen to 16,826.
