Authorities in the Czech Republic had announced a new record level of cases of COVID-19 on Friday with 27,717 infections in the last 24 hours.
The Health Ministry data had shown that the seven-day incidence rate had reached 1,231 per 100,000 people.
According to the ministry, some 6,000 people were being treated in hospital for COVID-19.
Czech President Milos Zeman is also in the hospital after testing positive for the virus.
His illness meant that the planned appointment of Petr Fiala as the country’s prime minister had to be postponed.
Zeman had only just left the hospital after being treated for complications relating to a chronic illness for a month and a half.
The Czech government has emergency powers, thanks to a state of emergency.
On Friday, officials moved to ban non-EU citizens from entering the country from Namibia, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and four other African countries, on concerns about a new variant that had emerged in the region.
The measure will take effect from Saturday.
Strict quarantine measures were also planned for Czechs and other EU citizens who had to reach the country after staying in one of the countries affected during the past 14 days.
There were growing fears worldwide that the new variant could be highly contagious due to an unusually large number of mutations.
