Czech Republic and Slovakia Register Virus Spike, Lockdowns Possible
PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech Republic and neighbouring Slovakia have registered big jumps in new coronavirus infections, setting a new record for the fourth straight day.
The Health Ministry says the day-to-day increase reached 8,618 confirmed cases on Friday, over 3,000 more than the previous record set a day earlier in the nation of over 10 million.
The Czech Republic has had a total of 109,374 cases since the beginning of the pandemic with 905 deaths. Of those, almost 27,000 have tested positive in the first five days of this week while 146 have died this week, according to Saturday’s figures.
The government has responded to the record surge by imposing a series of new restrictive measures. Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Friday he cannot rule out a lockdown of the entire country.
In Slovakia, the health ministry reported 1,887 new cases of infection on Friday, over 700 more than the day before.
Prime Minister Igor Matovic says the government is preparing further restrictive measures that will be announced on Sunday.