The Czech government tasked the army Friday with building a large field hospital to relieve civilian hospitals as the country combats the fastest growth in coronavirus infections in the European Union.

The country of 10.7 million people is faring worst in the 28-member bloc in terms of holding back the disease, according to the latest ranking by European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention's (ECDC).

Data updated on Friday showed the Czechs had by far the most new cases and deaths per 100,000 inhabitants over the past two weeks in the EU.

Recent daily infection rates have reached almost 10,000 cases, putting more strain on healthcare providers.

"The hospital will have 500 beds, 10 ventilated and 490 ordinary ones," Health Minister Roman Prymula told reporters.

He said the construction of the hospital in halls serving as exhibition grounds on Prague's northern outskirts would start on Sunday.

The army said earlier it would need about 10 days to build it.

The Czech Republic has registered almost 155,000 cases and more than 1,270 deaths overall, with 3,120 people in hospital.

Prymula said he expected new cases to keep growing for the next two weeks but added that the new field hospital may not start working immediately.

"It is a reserve hospital in case there is a big leap," he said, adding that the hospital staff would be recruited both in the army and among civilian medical workers.

To combat the virus spread, the Czech government has ordered face masks indoors, reduced gatherings to six people and closed schools, restaurants, bars, cinemas, theatres, museums and swimming pools across the country.

Battle in Portugal over plans for compulsory virus app
Lisbon (AFP) Oct 16, 2020 - Portugal's government is in damage control mode after it triggered widespread outrage and ignored EU guidelines with plans to make a Covid-19 contract tracing app compulsory.

Dubbed "Stay Away Covid", the app warns users when they have been near someone who has recently tested positive for the coronavirus.

So far, just 1.7 million of Portugal's 10-million population have downloaded it, which the government says is fewer than needed to help brake the pandemic's spread.

"I hate to be authoritarian, but we have to get this pandemic under control," Prime Minister Antonio Costa said Thursday.

He had announced Wednesday that he would ask parliament for an "urgent" law making it compulsory to install the government tracing app, alongside mask-wearing on the street.

MPs are set to vote on the draft law next Friday, with Costa's socialist minority administration unable to guarantee its passage.

The right-wing opposition has already said that it could back the bill, but may refuse to pass the section covering the app in a committee vote.

Meanwhile the Portuguese Data Protection Authority (CNPD) said making the app compulsory would undermine "respect for private life" as well as raising "ethical" questions, spokeswoman Clara Guerra told AFP.

Both the European Commission and the European Data Protection Board urge governments to make virus tracking apps "voluntary".

The CNPD said Portugal would be the first country to take the opposite path among 55 signatories to the Council of Europe's data protection convention.

Portuguese digital rights group D3 said in a statement that the government's plans were an "unprecedented and antidemocratic" intrusion into citizens' private lives, threatening legal action if they become law.

"I don't see how they can make us install the app or how they'll check," jewellery student Bruno Guedelha said on a north Lisbon street.

"Opening up our personal data could make us vulnerable to fraud," worried another passer-by, Marcia Neves.

And many elderly Portuguese don't even have a smartphone capable of running the app.

Legal opinion is divided, with Lisbon university expert Jorge Reis Novais calling the draft law "unconstitutional", while lawyer and professor Jorge Bacelar Gouveia saying it wouldn't be "arbitrary" if its goal is "protecting other citizens' right to life and health".

Portugal dodged heavy virus casualties in the pandemic's first wave with an early lockdown, but daily cases are mounting fast.

Friday set a new record with 2,608 in 24 hours.

Across Europe, tracing apps have met mixed results despite being seen as a potentially vital tool to slow contamination.

In South Korea, people sent to self-isolate have been ordered to install a tracking app on their phones, one of the measures credited with helping keep cases down in the country.

Related Links
Epidemics on Earth - Bird Flu, HIV/AIDS, Ebola

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Covid-19 claims over 10,000 lives in Iraq
Baghdad (AFP) Oct 14, 2020
Iraq's health ministry said Wednesday that more than 10,000 people have died from Covid-19 in the country whose threadbare health sector has been battered by the virus. Iraq has registered more than 413,000 cases, and the total death toll now stands at 10,021, the ministry said. Neighbouring Iran has recorded around three times as many fatalities, the highest toll in the region. Baghdad recently lifted restrictions and reopened mosques, shops and cafes but has kept its borders closed to non- ... read more