Widimský, Beneš and Čelko reflect on the reasons for the mild course of COVID-19 in the Czech Republic in the European Heart Journal

In the prestigious European Heart Journal (IF˃24), three academics from the Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Widimský, Beneš and Čelko reflect on the reasons for the mild course of COVID-19 in the Czech Republic. They assume that the main factors include the appropriate timing of restricted free movement (13 days before the first death from COVID-19) or the obligation to wear masks. Undoubtedly, the health care system in the Czech Republic also signed a satisfactory course: free and accessible health care, number of hospital beds (6.6 per 1,000 inhabitants), frequent PCR testing for SARS-CoV-2 virus, timely restructuring of hospitals and the establishment of so-called covid clinics, over 2,000 medical students who have covered gaps in Czech healthcare, the introduction of clever quarantine, but possibly also mandatory BCG vaccination, which, according to some authors, may have an effect on the milder course of the disease.

-> Full text