This article provides daily updates on the situation in Brno and South Moravia. Photo credit: Freepik / For illustrative purposes.
Brno, Mar 17 (BD) [updated 6:30 PM] – The South Moravian Region (JMK) now has 35 confirmed cases of Covid-19.
The Czech Ministry of Health has authorized the use of the experimental drug “remdesivir” for COVID-19 in the Czech Republic. Only selected patients will be able to try the new drug produced by the US company Gilead.
“There has been a significant acceleration in the outbreak, with another 10 cases of COVID-2019 confirmed in the last 24 hours in the South Moravian Region,” said Renata Ciupek of the JMK Regional Hygiene Authority on Monday.
Anyone who is not contacted within 72 hours of being tested by the staff of the Regional Hygiene Station, has tested negative. “For capacity reasons, it is no longer possible to provide an individual service; from now on, we will only contact those with positive test results, where it is necessary to ensure immediate and sufficient anti-epidemic measures,” explained Ciupek on Monday.
New cases were reported in Zlín, Znojmo, Tišnov and Předklášteří.
Due to the spread of the coronavirus infection, hygiene officers placed several locations in the Olomouc region in total quarantine on Monday morning.
Public Transport
As part of emergency measures, travel on public transport in Brno is now allowed only if passengers have their mouth and nose covered. Passengers can use respirators, masks, or any alternatives, such as scarves.
In order to prevent the spread of coronavirus and to protect drivers and passengers, the city bus services in Znojmo (from March 16th) and Zlín (from March 18th) are running free of charge until further notice.
Volunteering in Brno
Masaryk University’s volunteer program, which has successfully recruited hundreds of students to support emergency services with vital work during the lockdown, is now open to the general public. The municipality’s Social Care Department is operating a 24-hour donation drop-off point for face-masks and other kinds of protective facial covering, at Koliště 19. More info and contacts: “How You Can Help: Masaryk University Opens Crisis Operations Centre For Volunteers“.
The Czech government declared a nationwide quarantine on March 16th; you can find more information in our Coronavirus: Round-Up of Quarantine Measures on March 16th and here: Government Announces New Measures to Halt the Spread of COVID-19 (published on March 17th).
The City of Brno is publishing regular updates on the situation in Brno here: brno.cz/coronavirus (English).
