The Way from the Leading Position to the Last: Geo-demographic Analysis of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Czechia
Abstract
This chapter is devoted to the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in time and space in Czechia and in a brief context of its neighboring countries. It is (except for the theoretical background and data description) thematically divided into three parts and uses different approaches in the analysis.
The first part descriptively outlines the trajectories of the virus in the Czech population. The second part, based on the demographic approach, examines the potential impact of COVID-19 on mortality.
The third part presents a time-space analysis of the spread of COVID-19 at the regional level. Among the fundamental risk factors for Czechia, there is the inexperience of the Czech health and hygiene systems in dealing with more serious infectious epidemics in the past, the absence of a scientific and independent public health institution, and non-conceptual political decisions in the management of pandemics.
In the analysis, the interdisciplinary scientific approach is used (medical geography, demography, and spatial analysis) to analyze such a complex phenomenon. It was shown that during the first year of pandemics (March 2020-March 2021) there were four pandemic waves in Czechia.
Except for the preventive and anti-pandemic measures, the effect on the mortality level and socioeconomic status in particular regions could be expected. The estimated effect of COVID-19 on the life expectancy at birth was estimated around a 1 year decrease, the same as in other Central European countries.
This impact is expected to be much lower in the case of Germany.