Czech Republic becomes 20th nation to record 1 million COVID-19 cases

The Czech Republic surpassed the 1 million mark in terms of the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country as it recorded over 9,000 new infections on Wednesday. The European nation has become the 20th in the world to cross the threshold of recording over a million cases and is the smallest among all to post such a seven-digit number. The Czech Republic has registered over 16,600 deaths to date. 

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There are currently 93,043 active cases in the country, of which 1,002 patients are under critical care. Although the daily infection rate in Czechia has dropped from its peak in early January, it is still relatively high and poses a significant risk to the health infrastructure. The new emerging variants of COVID-19, which scientists say are highly contagious, are making the situation worse in the country of over 10 million people. 

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Poor policies, lack of trust

Many blame the current health crisis on the government, which has changed three health ministers since the start of the pandemic. Jan Trnka, a biochemist from Prague’s Charles University, said that the government has clearly lacked in its approach to tackle the pandemic, adding that the country will likely have more people in hospitals in the coming weeks. According to a poll, the general public in Czechia is also not sure about the safety and efficacy of vaccines as over 50% have said they would not get inoculated. 

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The coalition government of Prime Minister Andrej Babis has garnered a lot of criticism for repeatedly easing COVID-19 restrictions in the country. Before Christmas, the government allowed non-essential services to reopen, which resulted in a massive surge in cases and deaths. The mounting numbers prompted the government to reintroduce some restrictions and stop schools and the hospitality sector from reopening. Czechia is currently running a COVID-19 vaccination programme in the country and has so far administered nearly 3 lakh doses. 

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(Image Credit: AP)