Covid-19. Prime Minister of the Czech Republic apologizes to citizens...

The Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Andrej Babis, apologized to Czech citizens for increase in cases and the implementation of new restrictive measures to fight the pandemic. The apology, repeated five times, came on Thursday during a press conference, on the day that the country once again exceeded the maximum number of new daily cases.

I apologize for the new restrictions that will affect the lives of entrepreneurs, citizens and workers. I also apologize for having ruled out the possibility of this happening, because I did not imagine it ”, he said.

The new measures include limits on people’s travel and the closure of non-essential services and stores, until November 3. The use of a mask is also mandatory in all urban areas and even in cars.

For weeks, says CNN, Babis refused to impose new restrictive measures, claiming the need to protect the country. Decision that led to a “widespread spread” of the virus.

We certainly made mistakes when thinking about the end of May, when we finished the reopening, that we had controlled it [à pandemia]”Said the prime minister.

The Central European country, which has roughly the same population as Portugal, has been severely affected by the pandemic since September, after successfully managing the situation in the first few months. It was even considered an example in combating Covid-19 for imposing an early confinement and the mandatory use of a mask.

Until August, the country had never reached 400 infections of the new coronavirus. However, it is currently the European country with the most infections per hundred thousand inhabitants in 14 days, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention.

The situation in the Czech Republic has caused worldwide concern. On Wednesday, Health Minister Roman Prymula,

Americká armáda nabídla pomoc ve zvládání epidemie koronaviru. Jednáme o příjezdu 28 vojenských lékařů a zdravotníků, kteří mají zkušenosti s bojem proti covid z USA. Nyní dolaďujeme konkrétní detaily.

— Lubomír Metnar (@metnarl) October 21, 2020

that the United States National Guard will send 28 doctors to the country. “We are negotiating the arrival of 28 United States military doctors and paramedics with experience in combating Covid,” he said.

On this side of the Atlantic, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission,

#Koronavirus: Česko zažívá těžkou dobou.Případů přibývá.Nemocnice potřebují zdravotnické vybavení. EU pomáhá.

Dnes jsem mluvila s @AndrejBabis a řekla mu,že rychle odesíláme do Česka první sadu 30 ventilátorů z naší rezervy #RescEU.

A přijde i další pomoc. pic.twitter.com/rseRJjFqKH

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) October 22, 2020

, on Thursday that the European Union will supply 30 ventilators to help Czech hospitals. “More help will come,” he warned.

The Czech Republic was one of the European countries that surpassed, on Thursday, the maximum number of daily cases, with almost 15 thousand registered cases. It has an accumulated total of 223,065 cases and 1,845 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.