More than two months have passed since the first reported COVID-19 case was confirmed in Czechia, initiating a prompt response from the Czech Government who immediately adopted numerous measures in order to minimise the further spread of COVID-19 within and beyond its borders. As of today stats sit at 242 088 tests conducted and 7 581 confirmed cases out of which 3120 have already recovered. Given the numbers of the surrounding countries, it is safe to say that Czechia has been able to contain and treat COVID-19 with high efficiency. Besides the obvious globally implemented restrictions such as reduction of movement, closure of high risk outlets, ban of international travels etc., Czechia is one of just a few countries who from the early stages of COVID-19 spread made wearing of masks and respirators in public spaces a mandatory requirement. This resulted in a great solidarity amongst Czech citizens, making sure that despite the global shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), everyone has a mask under a motto “My mask protects you and your mask protects me!”.

It did not take long for Czech companies across various industries together with educational and other professional institutions to add their bit by quickly adjusting and/or upgrading manufacturing operations to provide a wide range of PPE, medical equipment, sanitizers, and other useful tools, including open source solutions, to fight the spread of COVID-19 not only in Czechia but literally across the globe.

Taking in consideration information mentioned thus far, as an example we list below a number of Czech companies and institutions offering their cooperation to their Southern African counterparts to jointly provide needed equipment and services to their governments and other entities:

Association of Manufacturers and Suppliers of Medical Devices – group of prominent Czech health related companies ready to offer their world class products and services

Česká zbrojovka a.s. – world known arms manufacturer currently focused on production of high quality protective masks

CoroVent – collaboration between the Czech tech industry, educational institutions, government and average citizens, crowdsourcing and organizing efforts to fight the COVID-19 epidemic by jointly manufacturing a lung ventilator

Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics CTU – research and development institution which came up with a design of a protective half mask which can be openly sourced and printed out using HP MJF 3D printer

EGO Zlin s.r.o. – highly regarded producer and distributor of complex biological protection system, logistic and decontamination system for urgent medicine or long-term treatments

LIAZ a.s. – manufacturer of a unique Unmanned Helicopter Skyspotter 150 which can be in many ways used to remotely monitor, sanitize, deliver or even measure a temperature

Nanologix corporation s.r.o. – producer of cutting edge respiratory equipment using nanomaterials

PARDAM, s.r.o. – producer of high quality nanofibrous materials amongst other things used for PPE

PFNonwovens s.r.o.  – global producer of non-woven fabrics used to manufacture various protective and hygiene products

Prusa research a.s. – 3D printer currently focusing on production of top quality face shields

The list serves merely as an example, illustrating a variety of equipment that Czech companies and institutions have to offer to fight the COVID-19 spread. There are many other Czech producers that have a lot to offer with regards to protective and other medical equipment.

Please do not hesitate to contact us at commerce_pretoria@mzv.cz with any related enquiries and we will do our best to facilitate the right product for you as well as to put you directly through with representatives of particular companies and institutions.

Author: Commercial and Economic Section of the Czech Embassy in Pretoria