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| - The Czech Republic is past the worst of the coronavirus and has managed to stop an uncontrolled spread of the COVID-19 disease, the health minister said on Wednesday. "We can get ready for a gradual controlled return to normal life," Minister Adam Vojtech told reporters. "We are certainly past the worst. At the same time, we have succeeded in protecting hospitals and intensive care units which still have reserves." Czech officials reported 195 new cases on Tuesday, down from a peak of 375 on March 27. At the same time, Tuesday saw a record-high 7,434 tests compared with just over 5,000 tests on March 27. "Recent data show a break in the trend," said Ladislav Dusek, head of the Czech Institute of Health Information and Statistics. "This is a clear signal that... the uncontrolled spread of the disease has stopped." Dusek told reporters that on Tuesday the total number of confirmed cases made up 5.1 percent of total tests carried out, following a steady decline from 6.7 percent in late March. "The daily number of new patients in hospitals remains roughly the same," Dusek said, adding that some 13-15 percent of those testing positive required hospital care. To stem the spread of the virus, the government closed borders, most shops, all pubs, cinemas and theatres in mid-March. At the time, each Czech was capable of infecting 2.64 people but that number has dropped to roughly 1.00 thanks to the measures, said Dusek. Officials also ordered people to wear face masks when outside and limited most public gatherings to two people. On Monday, however, they began to ease some of the measures, opening some shops and relaxing the face mask requirement for sports. frj/amj/jxb
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