Number of coronavirus cases linked to Prague nightclub rises to 98
An outbreak of coronavirus linked to a music club in Prague has increased to 98 cases, including footballers from several of the city’s clubs, public health officials have said.
The outbreak was one of several surges of infections in the Czech Republic.
Public health officials have reimposed restrictions on public activities in some areas, including the industrial north-eastern region that is home to 10% of the country’s 10.7 million people.
The central European country reported 247 new cases on Wednesday, the highest number since a spike in late June. As a result, the Czech prime minister, Andrej Babiš, said face masks may be made obligatory again in selected indoor spaces.
Authorities suspect one woman with no symptoms was the source of the infection at a birthday party on 11 July at the Techtle Mechtle club in central Prague.
Prague’s public health authority said 68 clubgoers, seven employees and 23 family members and contacts had tested positive for coronavirus. A further 273 people have been quarantined. After media reports that some of the club’s customers became infected by sharing a drink with one straw, hygienists urged people to continue social distancing.
“The Prague public health authority emphatically recommends that everyone consumes their drink solely from their own glass and avoids consumption from a common container,” it said in a statement.
Despite the growth in daily cases in the past several weeks, the number of those admitted to hospital has increased only slightly to 141, a third of the number during a peak in April.
The country has reported 14,570 coronavirus cases and 364 deaths, a fraction of the number in some western and southern European countries.
Prague’s public heath officials did not name the sports clubs affected by the nightclub outbreak, but major clubs Sparta Prague, Bohemians 1905 and Dukla Prague have said they had infections in their reserve or junior teams.