The government is tightening measures, the situation is critical in Moravian hospitals
Updates: 11/24/2021 6:01 PM
Released: 24.11.2021, 17:53
Prague – The resigned government will take further measures against coronavirus spread on Friday. According to Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (YES), it will be mainly a matter of reducing contacts, not a complete closure of the country. He did not rule out a declaration of a state of emergency. The worst situation is in Moravia, according to the South Moravian Governor Jan Grolich (KDU-ČSL), the Czechia needs comprehensive measures. Regions in the east of the country want to limit mass action. The future cabinet also presented its plans to manage the epidemic today. The priority for him is to protect the healthcare system from collapse, he wants to recognize PCR tests and antibodies as cover certificates or to extend the Christmas holidays. On Tuesday, tests revealed 25,864 new cases of covid-19, the most in one day since the epidemic began.
More than 5,600 people with covid are hospitalized, the situation is critical mainly in some Moravian hospitals. The situation in medical facilities is deteriorating. On Thursday, the army will transport 19 patients with coronavirus from two overloaded teaching hospitals in Brno to Prague. Vyškov Hospital today declared a state of extreme emergency, it has exhausted all beds and there is no need to restore new capacity. The Kyjov Hospital also announced the state of mass disability on Tuesday. The University Hospital in Motol will then stop all planned surgical care from Monday. The measures will not affect acute cases and life-threatening situations.
According to the representatives of the coalition Together and the Pirates, the regional situation is to be solved operatively by the regional hygienic stations, for example by limiting the number of people at events. However, according to Babiš, the announcement of regional measures by regional hygienists complicates the fact that a pandemic law requires the government’s consent.
It intends to ban gatherings and events attended by more than a hundred people from 14 weeks for the Zlín Region from next week. Schools, businesses and services should continue to operate. Vladimír Šrámek, the South Moravian coordinator of care for covid patients, also considers the limitation of mass events to be logical. The Moravian-Silesian Region will also ask hygienists for similar measures. Cultural and social events cancel or limit other larger cities in addition to Prague. The South Bohemian Region also called on municipalities to limit Advent events.
According to Babiš, the current government is increasing the number of vaccination places for Rádio Impuls, and a bed dispatching center is ready. According to the Prime Minister, there are already enough monoclonal substances to help the sick after the delivery from Germany. On Monday, the government opened a debate on the compulsory vaccination of certain professions. He has to assess the duty of the inter-ministerial commission by the end of the week. Vaccination could be mandatory for those over 60, according to the cabinet. Representatives of the incoming government coalition, on the other hand, oppose compulsory vaccination.
The next government wants, among other things, to introduce mandatory for risky contacts for the vaccinated, to change the pandemic law, and to communicate better with the public. The leader Together and the future Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) stated that the current wave of the covid epidemic can no longer be stopped, but its effects can be reduced and the health care system protected from collapse. The main criterion for managing the epidemic will be the occupancy of the hospital and especially the intensive care units. According to some experts, however, such a procedure is incorrect, the epidemic is on the ICU occupancy because of several weeks of delay.
The future government has promised not to close schools widely. But he proposes to extend the Christmas holidays. They should start on Monday, December 20, not Thursday, December 23. Children should be on leave for more than two weeks. However, the South Bohemian governor and head of the Association of Regions, Martin Kuba (ODS), noted that longer holidays will not solve the hospital’s congestion. The resigned Minister of Education Robert Plaga (for YES) believes that a possible extension of the holidays would not make sense if at the same time run businesses, for example, without restriction.
The candidate for Minister of Health Vlastimil Válek (TOP 09) believes that it is possible to increase the capacity of testing centers to more than 200,000 tests per day. In the case of high-risk contacts, people who have passed half a year since the second dose should also be tested with a PCR test. He spoke out against compulsory vaccination for some age groups, according to which society is more divided. If they want mandatory vaccinations from professional organizations, such as doctors, the state should comply. All GPs should be involved in the vaccination. The booster dose should be available to everyone five months after the last dose.
According to the future government, the vaccination certificate is to be reduced to six to seven months after two-dose vaccines and to three months after a single-dose vaccine. PCR tests and antibodies are to apply as a cover certificate. However, Babiš stated today that a return to the recognition of PCR tests as cover certificates would be a recommendation against experts and the procedure of Austria, Germany or Germany. Its ending cabinet with such a plan I do not agree, among other things, because it would be interested in vaccination against covid-19.
As part of medium-term measures, the emerging cabinet wants to improve the functioning of the vaccination network. In the long run, I consider it necessary for the state’s cardiovascular system to communicate better with the public about the current situation and restrictions. According to the Five Coalition, the so-called lockdown must be the last resort.
The next government wants to follow the crisis rules consistently to combat the epidemic. STAN chairman and candidate for interior minister Vít Rakušan thinks that under the current YES and CSSD government, crisis management “got out of hand”. The new coalition is also planning an amendment to the pandemic law, which will extend its effectiveness and adjust parts that do not work perfectly.
The current and future governments, governors and experts continue to call on the public to be vaccinated against covid, because of the risks of infection and, above all, the difficult course of hospitalization and death. According to the Ministry of Health, 58.7 percent of the country’s population has completed vaccinations. In the category of people aged 12 and over for whom vaccines have been approved so far, it is 67.3 percent. The highest proportion of vaccinated people is among seniors aged 70 to 79, at 85.7 percent. On the other hand, the least vaccinated are children and adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15, of whom about a third have completed it.