Czech health minister resigns amid surge in COVID-19 cases

Czech Health Minister Adam Vojtech resigned on Monday following criticism of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic after a surge in cases.

"After careful consideration of the current situation, I decided to resign as minister of health," Vojtech said, adding that he had already submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Andrej Babis.

Babis thanked Vojtech for his work in a tweet.

Before the start of the summer, the government lifted almost all restrictions imposed during the first wave of the pandemic. The number of infections has doubled this month and has grown at the second fastest rate in Europe in recent weeks, behind Spain.

Almost 49,300 people have been infected with the coronavirus in the Czech Republic, about twice as many as at the start of September. The "R" number, which measures how many people are likely to be infected by one person carrying the virus, has hit 1.6. The virus has killed more than 500 people in the country.