This article provides daily updates on the coronavirus outbreak in Brno, South Moravia and the Czech Republic. Photo credit: Freepik / For illustrative purposes.
Brno, Mar 24 (BD) [6:40pm] – As of 6pm this evening, the South Moravian Region (JMK) has reported 92 confirmed cases of Covid-19, most in the Brno-město district (50), according to the South Moravian Hygiene Authority (KHS). “As of Tuesday evening we can report one recovered patient in home isolation,” said Renata Ciupek, head of the regional epidemic hygiene department.
| Cases of Covid-2019 by district as of 6pm, March 24th. Source: KHS. Brno-město 50 Brno-venkov 14 Blansko 5 Břeclav 15 Hodonín 2 Vyškov 1 Znojmo 5 JMK total 92 |
According to the KHS numbers, the majority of these cases were aged 25-34 (27 cases). The second highest number of cases were aged between 35-44 (22 cases). There were 19 cases among people aged over 55, and only two among those aged 10-14.
| COVID-2019 cases by age group as of 6pm, March 24th. Source: KHS. 10-14 2 15-19 5 20-24 11 25-34 27 35-44 22 45-54 6 55-64 9 65-74 5 75 and older 5 JMK total 92 |
So far, 597 people in South Moravia have been placed in quarantine, and 1,484 have been tested.
Masaryk University rector Martin Bares announces that University students will be able to return to their classrooms at the earliest in mid-May. The university will postpone the examination period until September.
Yesterday, the City of Brno and heads of Brno hospitals started negotiations on what a proposed “back-up field hospital” located at Pavilion G of the Brno Exhibition Centre would look like. The hospital could accept up to 500 patients and may be furnished by IKEA furniture. “We would like to submit all documentation for review in the middle of the week. We are also waiting for IKEA to confirm whether they will be able to supply us with enough beds. I will be extremely happy if all these measures will ultimately not be needed at all,” said Brno Mayor Marketa Vankova on Facebook yesterday.
One patient recovered from Covid-19 and one died in the Czech Republic today, Health Minister Adam Vojtech announced. To date, 19,624 people have been tested, with 1,394 of those testing positive. Eight people have recovered and two have died – a 95-year old man in Prague and a 45-year-old man in Havirov with advanced cancer. The number of new cases detected has been decreasing for the last few days; this morning, 105 cases of new coronavirus infection were reported.
The experimental drug remdesivir was tested for the first time in the Czech Republic, on a patient in the General University Hospital in Prague with a severe case of the disease. The Ministry of Health and the producer of remdesivir are finalising plans to distribute the treatment to the patients at the highest risk of complications.
“We have apologized and delivered 110,000 masks to the Civil Guard of Italy as a replacement for those inadvertently confiscated in Lovosice. Police are investigating how they got to the Czech Republic,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs Tomas Petricek earlier this evening.
Smart quarantine: After Easter, the Ministry of Health wants to introduce a new form of quarantine known as ‘smart quarantine’. Chairman of the Central Crisis Staff and Deputy Minister of Health Roman Prymula explained the concept at a press conference earlier today: “Within three days we want to identify positive contacts, test them as quickly as possible and isolate their contacts. The places where they have recently been should then be disinfected.
Today’s round-up ends with something we don’t report on every day… Pornhub, the largest porn database on the Internet, is offering free premium content to all Czechs to encourage self-isolating. To access the content, users must agree that they will stay at home as much as possible, follow safety rules and social distancing in public, and wash their hands.
