Health minister: First week of January will be key in development of epidemic

The ongoing growth in new coronavirus cases registered in the Czech Republic during the Christmas period could have been expected, but the current data does not represent reality due to lower testing rates and the fact that people are largely staying at home. The first week of January, after people return to work, will be key in the development of the epidemic,  Health Minister Jan Blatný told the Czech News Agency on Wednesday.

Tuesday’s latest data on the development of the epidemic showed that there were 16,329 new cases of the virus, the largest increase in a single day since the coronavirus was first detected in the Czech Republic. No less than 48.5 percent of people, who took the test on Tuesday, received positive results. However, coronavirus rates have declined among the older segments of the population.