PRAGUE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th October, 2020) Czech President Milos Zeman is expected to give his approval on Thursday to Prime Minister Andrej Babis' decision to appoint Jan Blatny as the country's new health minister, presidential spokesman Jiri Ovcacek said on Tuesday.
"The president of the Czech Republic, Milos Zeman, will appoint Jan Blatny to the position of health minister on Thursday, October 29, 2020, at 12:00 noon [11:00 GMT]. The ceremony will be attended by Prime Minister Andrej Babis," Ovcacek wrote on Twitter.
Blatny will replace Roman Prymula, who has faced sustained criticism for flouting the country's coronavirus disease social distancing measures after he was photographed leaving a Prague restaurant and entering a car while not wearing a face mask this past Friday.
According to the country's COVID-19 regulations, facial coverings must be worn in indoor public spaces. Prymula was condemned by the European country's political leaders and urged to resign.
Blatny previously served as the deputy director of the University Hospital in Brno, the Czech Republic's second-largest city.
The Czech Republic is currently battling a severe surge in new COVID-19 cases. The European country, which has a population of just over 10 million, registered 8,845 new cases and 152 new deaths on Tuesday, one of the world's highest per-capita rates.
The country's case total currently sits at 277,215, and 2,517 people have died due to complications from the disease since the start of the pandemic.
