Testing for coronavirus – illustrative photo.
Prague – The number of positive tests for covid-19 is rising again, last week there were a third more than in the previous week. This Monday, statisticians recorded almost a thousand positive tests, which is the most since the middle of last December. This follows from the data of the Ministry of Health. According to the State Health Institute (SZÚ), the data for the past week already show a decline in the flu, but a slight rise in RS viruses, other causes of colds and the coronavirus that causes covid-19.
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According to the Ministry of Health, long-term predictions of further development are quite difficult. “The weather can certainly play a role in the current increase, when after a warmer period comes freezing weather, which causes a greater accumulation of people in indoor spaces, and this always potentiates the easier transmission of respiratory infections,” ministry spokesman Ondřej Jakob told ČTK.
According to the SZÚ, the overall morbidity from respiratory infections, which experts include from 2021, in addition to influenza, RS viruses and other viruses that cause colds, as well as the causative agent of covid-19, did not practically decrease in the previous week compared to the previous one. There are about 1,350 sick people per 100,000 inhabitants, which is below the threshold of an influenza epidemic.
According to Helena Jiřincová from the National Reference Laboratory for Influenza and Non-Influenza Diseases of the SZÚ, there is little data for conclusions from reports from general practitioners for the past week. “Apart from the clear downward trend, it is not possible to further evaluate it in terms of dominance. Influenza, RSV is decreasing slightly, the number of covid-19 cases is increasing slightly, diseases caused by other respiratory viruses are decreasing, especially rhinoviruses, which did not contribute to morbidity during the peak phase of the flu epidemic,” she explained.
However, the data on covid-19 testing shows that the number of positive tests from the beginning of this week is the highest since December 19. According to data from the Ministry of Health, about a fifth of people with symptoms have a positive test, which is the most since the beginning of November last year.
“The total number of cases is only one part of the assessment of the development of the epidemiological situation and the overall burden, but not the most important one – that is the number of hospitalized patients, especially the number of hospitalized patients in a serious condition, and here we do not observe any change that would indicate a risk condition,” added Jakob. There are about 300 people in hospitals with covid-19, 12 in intensive care units. Last year in mid-December, when the number of positive tests was similar, over 800 were hospitalized. Doctors report the number of deaths from covid-19 every day, a year ago there were around fifty every day.
According to Jakob, the recommendations are the same for both covid-19 and flu and other respiratory diseases – maintaining social distance, washing hands and wearing respiratory protection equipment, especially in places where there are sick people, such as medical facilities or homes for the elderly.
“If I have symptoms of a respiratory infection, I stay at home until I recover,” he added. According to him, the recommendation to revaccinate against covid-19 is still valid, especially for people who have a higher risk of a serious course. Experts recommend them to people over 60 at least four months after the last revaccination. However, according to the Ministry's data, the interest is not great. While a year ago doctors vaccinated tens of thousands of people a day, this year they administered 23,300 doses of vaccine since the beginning of the year. Basic vaccination has 6.9 million inhabitants, i.e. roughly 65 percent of the population, the first booster dose 4.3 million and the second 793,000.
Development of the epidemic of acute respiratory tract infections in the Czech Republic:< /p>
| Week | Number of reported cases per 100,000 inhabitants | Number of positive SARS-Cov-2 tests | Coronavirus – Week-to-week change |
| 6. week 2023 | – | 1715 in two days | – |
| 5. week 2023 | 1349 | 2708 | + 37.7% |
| 4. week 2023 | 1351 | 1967 | + 7.7% |
| 3. week 2023 | 1417 | 1827 | – 5.3% |
| 2. week 2023 | 1611 | 1930 | – 32.7% |
| 1. week 2023 | 1956 | 2866 | + 6.5% |
| 52. week 2022 | 1770 | 2692 | – 39.8% |
| 51. week 2022 | 2403 | 4472 | – 19.1% |
| 50. week 2022 | 2334 | 5526 | – 10.1% |
| 49. week 2022 | 1754 | 6144 |
source: State health institute, ÚZIS
