Czech daily COVID-19 cases top 6,000 for first time since April

PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech Republic reported 6,274 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, almost doubling in a week as the country struggles to contain a new wave of the pandemic.

The latest number is the highest since April 7 in the country of 10.7 million.

Hospitalisations have risen to 1,146 as of Oct. 26, up from 249 at the start of the month, with 166 people in intensive care, data from the Health Ministry showed.

Despite the rapid growth, cases and hospitalisations are still well below peak levels of early 2021 and the end of last year.

Vaccination has been gathering pace after a slowdown, with 6.06 million people fully vaccinated.

Last week the outgoing government decided to force restaurants to check patrons' COVID-19 status.

(Reporting by Robert Muller; Editing by David Goodman)