Elainna Simpson

Dr. Grinde
Cross-Cultural Psychology
4/29/2020
Region Journal #3: COVID-19 in the Czech Republic
COVID-19, a form of coronavirus, is spreading throughout the world, yet many countries

are handling this pandemic in different ways. COVID-19 is a respiratory illness and has

symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath, fever, chills, and the loss of taste or smell. The

most vulnerable populations to the virus are the elderly, those with severe diseases, and people

with immune deficiencies. One of the major concerns with COVID-19 is how fast the virus can

spread, therefore, hurting countries who have ill-equipped healthcare systems or even straining

the countries that are more equipped. As the Czech Republic (Czechia) begins to gradually

reduce its COVID-19 protective measures, it is important to look at how the country has

handled the pandemic to reach this point.

The first case of COVID-19 occurred on March 1, 2020, and by March 14 th Czechia called

a state of emergency and called for nationwide lockdown and quarantine (Gill, 2020; Komenda

et al., 2020). This meant that boards were closed to both foreigners going in and Czechs going

out of the country. Schools, pubs, restaurants, shops (excluding grocery shops and pharmacies),

and public events were all closed (Gill, 2020; Hron & Sagal 2020). Soon the restrictions

increased where people can no longer gather with more than 10 people at a time, must keep 2

meters distance from others, and when outside need to have both their mouth and nose

covered with a face mask (Czech News Agency, 2020). The government has also encouraged

employers to move to online work, allow their workers their usual annual leave, and suspend
any activities that are not essential to the operation of their business (Hron & Sagal, 2020). As

of April 29, 2020, the Czech Republic has had a total of 7,563 confirmed COVID-19 cases, a total

of 227 deaths related to COVID-19, and 3,096 total cured cases from COVID-19 (Komenda et al.,

2020). The state of emergency is set to end on May 1, 2020, but the Czech government wants

to extend it again until May 25th. The Czech government plans to replace its blanket measures

for the whole country with particular measures for specific individuals. Yet, the government still

plans to work slowly and cautiously when lifting any restrictions on travel, school, shopping,

and public gatherings (Lopatka & Muller, 2020).

Czechia, with a population of 10.7 million, has had fewer cases than other western

European countries, but has taken quick COVID-19 action, one of the strictest in Europe when

put into place (Hovet, 2020; Lopatka & Muller, 2020). It is important to examine why Czechia

may have decided on such a strong response with so few cases. A Czech woman on YouTube

explains that she believes that Czechia has a good health care system, but that a lot of the

healthcare workers are a part of the vulnerable age-group for COVID-19 (Klára, 2020). Another

concerning issue is that Czechia has a significantly lower number of hospital beds per capita

than the average EU country, with only 6 beds (not all ICU) for every 1,000 people. The Czech

Republic also has a high elderly population which is particularly vulnerable to coronavirus, with

19% of individuals 65 and older, and about 12% who are 55-64 years old (Coronavirus In Czech

Republic //The real reason for the measures //What are we doing?). These facts about Czechia

help to better understand why they had such an extreme response to COVID-19 so early on and

that this response has helped from overwhelming their medical facilities.
 Czechia has had seen a decrease in the rate of cases, indicating their unique measures

have been successful. At the beginning of April, the Czech Republic created a system that would

quickly track and isolate those who had come into contact with confirmed COVID-19 cases. This

plan includes utilizing the army to trace anyone who has come into contact with a COVID-19

patient by using cell-phone data and credit card history to quarantine them. The method is

inspired by South Korean COVID-19 measures. Czechs are even encouraged to download an app

that utilizes Bluetooth technology and can determine which phone numbers came into

proximity of a confirmed COVID-19 case. The government also ensures that any data they

obtain would be deleted after 6 hours to ensure the privacy and safety of the Czechs (Lopatka &

Muller, 2020). I do believe that measures like this would be highly objected in the US and could

not be enacted as easily as it has in Czechia, yet one cannot refute that these measures have

seemed to work for Czechia so far. Czechia also has a state of emergency laws in place for

wearing masks in public and obeying the quarantine guidelines, if Czechs chose to disobey

these laws they could be looking at a very hefty fine (Gill, 2020). These types of consequences

for not adhering to COVID-19 guidelines also help to keep Czechs out of public and stopping the

spread. The Ministry of Health in the Czech Republic has also launched voluntary antibody

testing to determine how many people who had COVID-19 but were asymptomatic in the

country, therefore determining how many people have COVID-19 antibodies. With no COVID-19

vaccine currently available, herd immunity is the only other option to attempt to rid the country

of COVID-19 (Minjaríková, 2020). Herd immunity is when a certain threshold of immune

individuals in the country is met so people infect fewer people than before, which can reduce

the spread of the virus to zero. Lastly, individuals in the Czech Republic are being creative in
supplying safety gear to medical professionals. Researchers created masks to protect from

COVID-19 spread by using snorkeling masks that could be found at local sporting goods stores

and fitting military-grade filters on them. They have already created 2,200 and plan to make

about 10,000 more (NowThis News, 2020). This creative response from the Czechs helps to

keep their medical staff safe, despite scarce resources.

The Czech Republic has a unique way of handling the COVID-19 pandemic, but it

appears to be working as they still plan to end their state of emergency and are slowly lifting

restrictions. An article from the Czech News Agency (2020), states, “Health statistics experts

and epidemiologists said Czechia has coped well with the epidemic so far and should now focus

on a controlled return to normal life and the health sector’s restart.” This could be difficult as

their economy has been hit hard especially in hospitality, retail, services, transport, and travel.

Also, their unemployment rate was at 3% and is expected to rise to 5 percentage points

(Lopatka & Muller, 2020). Many people living in Prague, the capital of Czechia, are in awe of

the bustling city so vacant, especially since last year it had over 8 million visitors. But the Czech

people have seemed to have accepted their situation and have “good grace and humor” about

the pandemic. An expatriate living in Prague states there has been no sign of panic buying or

shortages within the city (Gill, 2020). It will be interesting to see how the Czech Republic’s

situation with COVID-19 evolves and if their unique methods will continue to stay key in their

declining COVID-19 cases.

 References

Coronavirus In Czech Republic //The real reason for the measures //What are we doing? (2020).

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPG1sIvWYxE

Czech News Agency. (2020, April 29). 40% of known coronavirus cases in the Czech Republic

have now recovered - Prague, Czech Republic. Retrieved from

https://news.expats.cz/coronavirus-in-the-czech-republic/40-of-known-coronavirus-cases-

in-the-czech-republic-have-now-recovered/

Gill, A. (2020, April 14). I'll Czech In Later - A Newbie in Prague. Retrieved from

https://onlyinbohemia.blogspot.com/

Hovet, J. (2020, April 28). Czechs report six-week low in daily rise of new coronavirus cases.

Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-czech-

idUSKCN22A15S

Hron, F., & Sagal, I. (2020, March). COVID-19: Guidance for Employers in the Czech Republic.

Retrieved from https://www.twobirds.com/en/news/articles/2020/czech-republic/covid-

19-guidance-for-employers-in-the-czech-republic

Klára, D. (2020) Coronavirus in Czech Republic | Covid-19 in Czechia | English. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd-WWYKjP4k

Komenda M., Karolyi M., Bulhart V., Žofka J., Brauner T., Hak J., Jarkovský J., Mužík J., Blaha M.,

Kubát J., Klimeš D., Langhammer P., Daňková Š., Májek O., Bartůňková M., Dušek L. (2020)

COVID-19: Overview of the current situation in the Czech Republic. Prague: Ministry of
 Health of the Czech Republic. Retrieved from https://onemocneni-aktualne.mzcr.cz/covid-

19

Lopatka, J., & Muller, R. (2020, April 9). Czechs hope targeted 'smart quarantine' plan will let

them lift blanket restrictions. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-

coronavirus-czech-strategy-idUSKCN21R1XS

Minjaríková, A. (2020, April 27). Coronavirus: Expats with a Residence Permit Can Also Get

Tested for COVID-19 Antibodies. Retrieved from https://blog.foreigners.cz/coronavirus-

expats-with-residence-permit-can-get-tested-for-covid-19-antibodies/

NowThis News. (2020). Czech Researchers Transform Snorkels Into Medical Masks | NowThis.

(2020). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MChS4vni2tU