PRAGUE, Jan 18 (Reuters) - The Czech Republic reported on Tuesday more than 20,000 new cases of COVID-19, the biggest single-day rise since Dec. 1, the Health Ministry said.
The central European country of 10.7 million is bracing for a new wave of the pandemic as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus begins pushing up cases.
The government has shortened quarantine and isolation times as part of new measures while also launching mandatory testing of employees at companies, which got underway this week.
On Monday, the Health Ministry recorded 20,270 new coronavirus infections, up from 7,342 a week earlier.
Hospitalisations, which peaked above 7,000 in early December in the last wave, stood at 1,660 on Monday, up a touch from Sunday.
(Reporting by Jason Hovet; Editing by Kim Coghill)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
