The Czech Republic currently ranks second among EU countries by the 14-day cumulative number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population, reaching 198 on Monday, according to data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
PRAGUE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st September, 2020) The Czech Republic currently ranks second among EU countries by the 14-day cumulative number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population, reaching 198 on Monday, according to data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
According to the ECDC, on Monday, the Czech Republic replaced France, where the 14-day cumulative number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people currently stands at 192.5, and became the second to Spain, where this number is 300.5.
Next to France come Luxembourg (147.9), Malta (120.4), Belgium (116.1), the Netherlands (109.8), Hungary (107.2) and Austria (105.7).
Authorities in many countries use this indicator when issuing recommendations for foreign trips of their citizens, as well as when making decisions on border control.
According to the Czech Health Ministry, a total of 49,290 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the country since the start of the pandemic. As many as 24,755 patients have recovered, while 503 died of the disease. The Czech Republic now has 24,032 active cases, with 503 patients currently in hospitals.
Earlier in the day, Czech Health Minister Adam Vojtech resigned amid criticism by the opposition and media over the surge in new cases. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis nominated prominent epidemiologist Roman Prymula to become the new health minister.
Prymula's appointment was approved by Czech President Milos Zeman during a televised procedure.
"I hereby appoint you minister of health and voice a hope that you, as an experienced specialist, will be successful in leading our health care through this uneasy period of the fight against the coronavirus," Zeman said.
Prymula, formerly the Health Ministry's deputy head and the ex-head of the Czech COVID-19 response center, will assume ministerial duties on Tuesday.
The new minister said during the appointment ceremony that he never aimed to go into politics but was made to by life itself as "the situation now is urgent and radical decisions have to be made."
In late May, the Czech government lifted almost all restrictions imposed during the initial phase of the coronavirus outbreak. The recent few weeks saw the number of new cases growing in the Czech Republic at the second-fastest pace in Europe.
