PRAGUE, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Czech Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Jan Hamacek has tested positive for COVID-19 and is now under home quarantine, according to local media reports on Wednesday.
The Czech News Agency quoted spokeswoman of the Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD), of which Hamacek is a member, as saying that Hamacek had himself tested after a meeting with COVID-positive Agriculture Minister Miroslav Toman, also a CSSD member.
Toman tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday.
Other members of the CSSD board who met Toman in the CSSD headquarters in Prague last Thursday tested negative for the virus, the spokeswoman said.
The numbers of COVID-19 cases have soared in the Czech Republic in the past few weeks. The country reported 11,984 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the highest daily rise since the pandemic outbreak in March, according to the Health Ministry.
This is the second time when daily COVID-19 cases exceeded 10,000 in the country. Last Friday, 11,105 cases were reported. Enditem