Covid cases continue to drop, but big Omicron wave anticipated

Throughout December, the weekly total of Covid-19 cases has continued to drop. But health experts expect the rapid spread of the Omicron variant will see more people hospitalised.

On Thursday, 5,749 new coronavirus cases were registered in the Czech Republic, 22 percent fewer than on the same day last week. At the same time, about twice as many tests were carried out a week ago.

Some 3,163 people were being treated in hospitals on Thursday. Authorities expect to see twice as many due to Omicron being more contagious albeit generally less serious than the Delta variant.

About 15 percent of daily new infections are currently due to Omicron. Ladislav Dušek, head of the Institute for Health Information and Statistics (ÚZIS), says it could rise to 50 percent within 10 days.

The seven-day incidence in the Czech Republic is currently 308 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants.