The entire leadership of the Social Democratic Party (CSSD) has gone into voluntary quarantine after a meeting with the Minister of Agriculture Miroslav Toman, who has tested positive, according to reports from Czech news site Seznam Zpravy today. Photo: 1st Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Jan Hamacek at a press conference, August 24, 2020. Credit: Vlada.cz.
Czech Rep., Oct 19 (BD) – The leadership includes the CSSD Chairman, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Jan Hamacek, as well as Social Affairs Minister Jana Malacova and Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek. Culture Minister Lubomir Zaoralek, who met with Toman but was wearing a face mask, is also voluntarily quarantined.
On Wednesday, Toman also met with President Milos Zeman, to discuss coronavirus measures and the Ministry of Agriculture budget for next year. However, Zeman does not have to quarantine as both politicians were wearing face masks, according to rules brought in around one month ago. If the covid positive patient and their contact had their airways fully covered at all times and the contact has no symptoms, they do not need to go into quarantine. The contact should monitor their health for 10 days from the meeting, and contact their GP by telephone in case of problems.
The president’s adviser, Martin Nejedly, has also tested positive for coronavirus. According to Czech newspaper Denik N, Nejedly last met Zeman 10 days before his test.
Both weekend days saw record numbers of new confirmed cases of coronavirus. There were 5,059 new cases on Sunday and over 8,000 on Saturday. Significantly less testing is usually done at the weekend.
