Czech President Milos Zeman was again admitted to a hospital in Prague this Thursday, hours after discharge, after testing positive for covid-19, his spokesman Jiri Ovcacek said in a statement.
“The president’s program will be suspended while he is undergoing treatment for COVID-19,” he added.
Ovchachek also said that given the new developments, the head of state will not appoint a new prime minister on Friday, as originally planned.
Zeman, 77, was hospitalized the day he was discharged from the hospital, where he was admitted to intensive care on October 10, the day after the parliamentary elections.
The politician in charge remained in this hospital ward for over three weeks and then was transferred to the rehabilitation department.
According to local media reports, the Czech president suffers from liver problems, allegedly due to alcohol consumption.
Prior to re-hospitalization due to a positive covid-19 test, Milos Zeman left the military university hospital in Prague to travel to his home west of the Czech capital, according to the hospital.
On November 11, he accepted the formal resignation of outgoing prime minister, populist billionaire Andrei Babis, following his electoral defeat, and was expected to appoint center-right leader Petr Fialu as prime minister on Friday.
The three-party Ensemble alliance, led by Petr Fiala’s ODS, has formed a coalition with two other parties, including the Pirate Party, and has a majority of 108 of 200 seats in the new lower house of parliament.
The military university hospital opposed the president’s departure, arguing that he was recommended to be treated in a specialized institution, but authorized it, given the noticeable improvement in health and his desire to continue to carry out his constitutional activities outside the medical institution.
