Czech Republic records biggest daily jump in coronavirus cases since April 3

The Czech Republic recorded its biggest daily rise in new coronavirus cases since April 3 due to local outbreaks in a number of regions, the health ministry reported on Saturday.

The central European country of 10.7 million recorded 323 new cases on Friday, Health Ministry data showed, bringing the total number of cases detected to 18,060. Of those, 12,749 have recovered and 389 have died of COVID-19.

Health officials have said the recent uptick in cases is due to local clusters and they say hospitalisations, at 116, are well below peaks of over 400 as the government seek to avoid a national lockdown again.

However, officials have cautioned that some measures taken to curb the illness are likely to return after the summer holidays when cities become more crowded again and the flu season arrives.

The rising number of cases in the Czech Republic prompted Norway this week to re-impose a 10-day quarantine for travellers from the country.