Czech singer Hana Horka dies after catching COVID-19 intentionally

An anti-vaccine Czech folk singer died after she deliberately contracted Covid to obtain a health pass that would have allowed her to visit the sauna and theatre, her family said. Proof of vaccination or a recent infection is required to access cultural and sports facilities as well as for travel and for visiting bars and restaurants in the EU member state, which is facing a soaring Covid count.

Hana Horka, who was the vocalist for the band Asonance, died on Sunday at the age of 57, according to her son Jan Rek. She voluntarily exposed herself to the virus when her husband and son, both vaccinated, caught it before Christmas, Rek told public radio iRozhlas.cz. "She decided to continue to live normally with us and preferred to catch the disease than to get vaccinated," he said on Monday.

Two days before her death, Horka took to social media to say: "I survived... It was intense." "So now there will be the theatre, sauna, a concert... and an urgent trip to the sea," she added. Rek blamed the death on a local anti-vax movement, saying its leaders had convinced his mother against vaccination and thus had "blood on their hands". The country of 10.7 million people announced more than 20,000 new Covid infections on Tuesday.