Czech President Milos Zeman was readmitted to hospital late Thursday after he tested positive for COVID-19, The Associated Press reported.
According to the report, this occurred just hours after Zeman had been discharged following more than a month's treatment for an unspecified illness.
The presidential office said Zeman was tested after he arrived at his official residence in Lany, west of Prague, in the afternoon. His official program was postponed, and it was unclear whether Zeman would be able to swear in the country's new prime minister as scheduled Friday, a process already long delayed due to his previous hospitalization.
Zeman, 77, was rushed to the hospital on October 10, a day after the election for the lower house of parliament, to be treated in an intensive care unit. His condition was attributed to an unspecified chronic disease.
The hospital said Thursday it would have preferred Zeman to remain hospitalized, but accepted his decision to leave due to a "significant improvement" in his condition.
Zeman is the latest in a line of world leaders to have tested positive for the virus. Earlier this week, French Prime Minister Jean Castex tested positive for COVID-19 and entered quarantine.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador tested positive for COVID-19 in January, several weeks after Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa tested positive for the coronavirus.
Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei tested positive for the virus in September of 2020.
In August, Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel tested positive for COVID-19.
Some of the more notable cases were those of former US President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who tested positive twice.