A Czech singer who refused to get vaccinated has died after she ‘deliberately’ caught Covid.
Hana Horka died two days after revealing she had tested positive for the illness and was recovering.
The 57-year-old folk singer, who was vocalist for the band Asonance, got infected on purpose in order to get a recovery pass to enter certain venues in the country, according to her son.
Jan Rek said he and his father, who are both fully vaccinated, contracted the virus over Christmas and Horka refused to isolate away from them. He claimed his mother wanted to catch Covid so there would be fewer restrictions on her movement.
It comes as the Czech Republic reported a record number of Covid cases on Wednesday – 28,469 recorded out of a population of 10.7million – with proof of vaccination or recent infection from Covid required in the country to gain entry to many venues, such as cinemas, bars and cafes.
Just two days before her death on Sunday, Horka wrote on social media that she was recovering, writing on Facebook: ‘I survived … It was intense. So now there will be the theatre, sauna, a concert … and an urgent trip to the sea.’
Following her death, Rek told the BBC this week: ‘She should have isolated for a week because we tested positive. But she was with us the whole time.’
On the day she died, Horka said she was feeling better and got dressed to go for a walk, however, her back started hurting and she went to lie down.
According to her son, Horka ‘choked to death’ and that ‘in about 10 minutes it was all over.’
Although his mum was unvaccinated, Rek insisted she didn’t believe in conspiracy theories surrounding the vaccine, saying: ‘Her philosophy was that she was more ok with the idea of catching Covid than getting vaccinated. Not that we would get microchipped or anything like that.’
In sharing her story, he hoped it would encourage others who held similar views to get vaccinated, with experts previously insisting the benefits of being vaccinated far outweigh any potential side effects.
He said: ‘If you have living examples from real life, it’s more powerful than just graphs and numbers. You can’t really sympathise with numbers.’
Rek blamed Horka’s death on a local anti-vax movement, telling Czech public radio station iRozhlas.cz: ‘I know exactly who influenced her … It makes me sad that she believed strangers more than her proper family.
‘It wasn’t just total disinformation but also views on natural immunity and antibodies acquired through infection.’
The Czech government recently introduced new measures in an effort to combat the new wave of cases, including mandatory testing for employees and schoolchildren, while the isolation period for those who test positive but have no symptoms has been reduced from 14 days to five.
However, plans to introduce mandatory vaccination – with 63% of the Czech Republic’s total population fully vaccinated so far – for some sections of society was canned.
Horka joined Asonance as a graduate of the Prague Conservatory with the band recording their last joint album, The Return Of The King, in 2019.
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