Leaders at a loss as coronavirus catches up with central Europe

Politicians struggle to explain why a region so much less affected in spring is so badly hit now

In the countries of central Europe, which during spring seemed to provide a best-practice model for keeping coronavirus at bay, case numbers have risen sharply, and governments in the region fear that their health systems are close to capacity and may struggle to cope. Central Europe is now just as badly hit as countries further west, and by some parameters is doing worse.

The Visegrad Four group of nations - Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia - were all notable for their success in keeping case numbers low earlier in the year, even as gruesome statistics of deaths and hospitalisations came out of western Europe on a daily basis.