Government criticised by members of health sector for lack of equipment

Many Czech hospitals are lacking facemasks and respirators during the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic. Health Minister Adam Vojtěch has said that some 50,000 respirators have been delivered to Czech medical facilities across the country. However, he himself admitted that up to a million are needed.

Many of the regional officials questioned by Czech Radio have said that there are cases of only a few dozen or hundred being delivered.

Štěpán Votoček, the director of Slaný Hospital in Central Bohemia, the second most affected region in the country by coronavirus infections after Prague, was very critical of the current situation. Speaking to Czech Television, he said that the hospital has received no respirators thus far and has no information about when the deliveries will come. The hospital staff has therefore resorted to sewing together their own facemasks. Anyone can close schools and borders he said, but when it comes to sorting out infrastructural measures the state is not performing well.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš insisted on Saturday that hospitals are equiped with respirators. Further deliveries are set to arrive next week, the government has said.