Czechia has announced a new state of emergency from February 27 to March 28 as intensive care capacity reaches breaking point at hospitals across the country.

A host of new lockdown measures will come into force in an attempt to curb the rise of COVID-19 cases, including the closure of nurseries and schools and restrictions on travel.

Czech Health Minister Jan Blatny says around 14,000 new COVID-19 infections are being recorded daily and he expects that number to rise to 20,000 in the coming weeks. If no measures are introduced, Blatny says that figure could be as high as 35,000. 

The country's death toll currently stands at 20,194 – meaning it has Europe's worst death rate, according to figures from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

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Prime Minister Andrej Babis has faced a struggle to have his new state of emergency approved amid firm resistance from opposition parties. On Thursday, Babis said the current restrictions weren't firm enough to have enough of an impact on the number of cases, but MPs voted against his new measures.

However, lawmakers eventually voted for a new state of emergency, much to the relief of the country's healthcare professionals, who have been overwhelmed by the rising number of cases.

The Karlovy-Vary regional hospital receives COVID-19 patients from surrounding areas but is on the brink of full capacity. On Thursday, the facility had just six beds left in intensive care.

"We are trying to solve the situation by transporting patients to nearby hospitals," said hospital spokesperson Vladislav Podracky. "About 10 to 15 patients are sent to neighbouring hospitals each day.”

Czechia's pandemic demise is at odds with its initial success in fighting the virus. The country was one of the first European nations to implement a lockdown, close its borders and introduce face masks, which kept cases and deaths to a minimum.

The country's struggle has been attributed to the new variants of COVID-19 first discovered in the UK and South Africa, mutations which have spread the virus more rapidly.

Another issue is that the country has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Europe. Czechia has vaccinated just 5.83 percent of its population, while a public information campaign about vaccines has now been delayed until the end of March at the earliest.

France has agreed to send Czechia 100,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech jab to help kickstart the vaccination drive, while discussions are continuing with Germany and Poland about potential help in treating patients and easing pressure on hospitals.