President Milos Zeman has appointed Petr Fiala, leader of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), premier of the Czech Republic. The ceremony took place in the presidential residence of Lany, near Prague, “in strict compliance with health measures”, since last Thursday, president Milos Zeman, shortly after being discharged from the hospital, tested positive for Covid-19.
To avoid any contact during the ceremony, Zeman arrived in a wheelchair and was separated from Fiala by a plexiglass box. The decree of the appointment was subjected to ultraviolet rays. The Czech president, Milos Zeman, was discharged from hospital yesterday, Saturday 27 November, ahead of the appointment of Minister Petr Fiala.
Zeman discharged after being admitted to intensive care
President Zeman “came out of the military hospital with the approval of the doctors and returned to his residence,” presidential spokesman Jiri Ovcacek informed on Twitter.
Zeman had been hospitalized in intensive care on 10 October, the day after the parliamentary elections. On Thursday he was finally discharged, but a few hours later he had to go back to the hospital because he tested positive for covid.
The long hospitalization for a chronic problem, the nature of which has not been disclosed, has slowed down the process of forming a new government as the country grapples with a serious wave of Covid-19 infections.