PRAGUE (Reuters) -Czech President Milos Zeman will be released from hospital on Saturday and will appoint Petr Fiala, the leader of a coalition of centre-right parties, as the new prime minister the following day, the president’s spokesperson said on Friday.
Zeman was taken back to hospital on Thursday after testing positive for the coronavirus, just hours after his release following more than six weeks of treatment for an unrelated condition.
Zeman, 77, has been vaccinated against the coronavirus three times and Czech media quoted unnamed sources as saying he showed no symptoms.
His office said on Friday he would be released to the presidential retreat at Lany, west of Prague. He will appoint Fiala there and safety measures will be maintained, Zeman’s office said.
Fiala’s Together coalition of three parties defeated outgoing Prime Minister Andrej Babis’s ANO party in an October election and is forming a government with another coalition consisting of the Pirate and Mayors parties.
The new government, once it takes power, faces another surge in the coronavirus pandemic, with daily infections reaching new highs and hospitals coming under strain.
(Reporting by Jason Hovet and Robert MullerEditing by Alison Williams and Peter Graff)
