As of Thursday morning, the country had 14% of capacity free in intensive care and high dependency units, including 154 beds for COVID patient Health Minister Jan Blatny has said Czech hospitals may be overwhelmed with coronavirus patients in two or three weeks PRAGUE: The Czech Republic reported a record number of COVID patients hospitalized in serious condition — 1,227 — on Thursday, as the country’s capacity to care for such cases dwindled. As of Thursday morning, the country had 14% of capacity free in intensive care and high dependency units, including 154 beds for COVID patients. The country of 10.7 million has had the most cases per capita in Europe except Portugal on a two-week basis, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control’s data showed. Health Minister Jan Blatny has said on Wednesday that Czech hospitals may be overwhelmed with coronavirus patients in two or three weeks, issuing the starkest warning yet. The Czech government has faced criticism from the opposition and citizens groups for chaotic management and unpredictability, but also growing demands to ease restrictions.