Infected With COVID-19 And Already Vaccinated Three Times, Czech President Milos Zeman Rushed To Hospital

Presiden Republik Ceko Milos Zeman. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru/Presidential Press and Information Office)

JAKARTA - Czech Republic President Milos Zeman was again rushed to hospital on Thursday after testing positive for the coronavirus, his office said, just hours after his release after more than six weeks of treatment for an unrelated condition.

President Zeman, 77, was discharged from hospital on Thursday morning, but an ambulance took him back to the Central Military Hospital (UVN) in the evening after testing positive at the presidential retreat in Lany, west of Prague.

This is expected to see center-right opposition leader Petr Fiala as interim prime minister, as had been previously planned.

"The president's program will be suspended pending COVID-19 treatment," his office said in a statement, cited from Reuters, November 26.

President Zeman has received coronavirus vaccines three times, local media citing unnamed sources as saying the president is asymptomatic.

News website www.seznamzpravy.cz quoted UVN Director Miroslav Zavoral, who is Zeman's primary doctor, as saying the president had received visits during his previous hospitalization, taking tests for COVID-19 after 'risky contact with employees in Lany.

He was taken to the hospital to receive treatment with monoclonal antibodies, he said.

The president was previously hospitalized on October 10 with complications of a chronic illness that his office never determined but doctors said was a liver condition.

He was hospitalized a day after parliamentary elections in which Zeman's allies, led by Prime Minister Andrej Babis, lost to the center-right coalition.

President Zeman was initially admitted to the intensive care unit and doctors said the prognosis was uncertain. Parliament prepared to debate removing his presidential duties, but after a few weeks, the president's condition improved.

He said he would respect the election results, would appoint center-right leader Fiala as prime minister on Friday, with Cabinet appointments following later.

Meanwhile, the hospital said earlier President Zeman decided to continue treatment at the presidential retreat, despite suggestions from the hospital he should stay.

The hospital said President Zeman, his family, and his closest associates had been informed of the potential risks and complications, recommending he be treated at a specialized medical facility.

But it said there had been "significant improvements" in the president's condition, respecting his decision to "give preference to carrying out his constitutional duties".

To note, prior to his hospitalization, Zeman had tried to improve relations with Russia and China, but relations soured with Moscow in a spy row and with Beijing because of a failed investment plan.

The upcoming government intends to strengthen the country's Western orientation, strengthening ties with democracies including Taiwan, which China claims as its territory.

Zeman has 15 months remaining in his second and final five-year term in office.