How it turned into a Chekhia pandemic disaster: The story of success collapsed with three decisions

A new, most infectious version of the virus has spread throughout the country, bringing Czech hospitals to the brink of collapse. The country's death toll just exceeded 20,000. Her death rate is among the highest in the world.

There is no reason for the country to be among the hardest hit. As a relatively wealthy country and a member of the European Union, the Czech Republic has access to vaccines, medical equipment and tracking technology solutions. There is a democraticly elected government. His healthcare system is well respected, its economy is strong enough, it broadcasts Telegrafi.

Instead, the current Czech disaster is similar to death by a thousand cuts -- a result of dozens of wrong mistakes, late decisions and public health messages, experts say. CNN-in.

On Friday, the government acknowledged there was no choice but to establish a very strict impasse starting Monday, as most of the rest of the world are starting to talk about relief.

The government has adopted an unfortunate strategy to make decisions based on current hospital capacities, which means they often come too late”, said Jan Kulveit, senior researcher at the Futurary Institute of Humanity, a multidisciplinary research institute at England's Oxford University.

He said that the number of patients in hospitals represents a delayed mirror of the epidemic because people tend to end up needing medical attention some time after they become infected.

There is a huge difference between adopting the measures in time and waiting for 10 days. A 10-day delay, when the reproduction number is 1.4 means doubling the 148x1> epidemic, he said.

The Czech government has not responded to a request for comment. Speaking in Parliament on Friday, Prime Minister Andrej Babes acknowledged that his government made a lot of mistakes “, but said it was no time to argue about the past.

Explaining the need for the new impasse, he said that “I understand it's difficult, but it's very important... we have to do this together and I hope everyone will understand and give us a last chance to manage this together”.

Dr. Rastislav Maar, dean of Ostrava University medical school and one of the country's leading epidemiologists, points to three decisions that caused the current crisis.

The first came when the government overloaded its advisers, including Macari, and refused to restore a mask mandate in summer; the second when it decided to reopen shops before Christmas; and the third, when it failed to react to the new version that emerged in early January.

These were three big mistakes and now, we're just praying there won't be a fourth”, he said.

Maar has a personal connection to the crisis. As the former co-ordinator of the government's advisory group for coronavirus restrictions, he resigned after Babac cancelled the group's call to make mandatory masks when the epidemic showed signs of strengthening in late August.

Pushing over the masks came just as the government decided to reopen schools in early September. “This led to increased mobility of approximately two million people and [the epidemic] exploded”, Madar said.

Politics likely played a part in decision making. “This was the moment when the epidemic started spreading again, but there was still time to stop it... but it didn't happen, because elections were coming”, said Dagmar Dzurova, a professor of demographics and deputy chief of the Department of Social Geography and Regional Development at Charles University in Prague,.

Dzurova is not the only expert showing elections in early October as a key moment in the battle against the virus. Many European countries experienced a second wave, the Czech Republic was not unique in this”, Kulveit said. “But unlike other countries, she failed to print the second wave and I think the elections played a role in that”, he added.

Dadic argued the restrictions were costly and unpopular, but said his decision was not motivated by elections. When overvoted on the matter of masks in parliament, Babac accused the opposition of politics, saying the regional “selections were the worst thing that could happen to COVID-19”.

The government's reluctance to act meant that the epidemic was out of control. By the end of October, a difficult impasse was imminent. Dad was forced to admit that he and his government had made mistakes in dealing with the explosion and begged people to follow strict block rules.

But another mistake came too soon. As the infections began to fall even with Christmas near the corner, the government became impatient and decided to ignore its rules based on data on how to reopen safely. System The EPS was introduced in November and aimed at determining the government's future steps based on the epidemiological situation; any relief was meant to be supported by data.

The risk level was determined by a number of factors, including the number of reproductions, the rate of positiveity, and the number of infections for 100,000 people. “They did not follow their rules, the system showed them something and they ignored it”, Kulvei said.

“They failed to withstand pressure and agreed to start removing certain restrictions so that people could get out and do their Christmas shopping, despite the fact that the infections were even higher than when the” deadlock was imposed, Maar said. The Christmas relief led to an increase in growth, and another impasse immediately after Christmas holidays.

Dad has mostly dismissed criticisms that experts -- not he himself -- should be the ones who communicate with the public. “over the summer, we had so many experts that people didn't know what's true”, he said in parliament.

Another problem with Czech access, Dzurova said, is the lack of significant financial support. This has led to low compliance with the rules among those who simply cannot obey them. For example, people who are quarantined are eligible for only 60 percent of their average salary, which is paid by their employers in the first two weeks.

And while businesses are eligible for compensation, a number of industry organs have criticised them as unadequate. Implementation has also been a problem, Maar said. “People are tired, they are meeting privately, hosting holidays, travelling to the mountains, there is a sharp reaction against police, which, however, cannot do much,” he said.