Singer dies after catching Covid intentionally

A member of Czech folk group, Asonance, 57-year-old Hana Horka posted on social media that she was recovering from Covid after testing positive, but passed away just two days later. Her son, Jan Rek, told the BBC that his mother was unvaccinated and contracted the virus intentionally in the hopes of gaining immunity.

The Czech Republic has experienced a record number of new Covid cases in recent days, and Horka’s son and husband, who are vaccinated, both contracted the virus over the holidays.

Instead of isolating, the singer decided to stay with her family in the hopes of contracting it herself so she could get a recovery pass, which is currently required in the Czech Republic to access venues such as cinemas, bars, and cafes. 

Her son claims Horka did not believe in vaccine conspiracy theories, but did prefer to catch Covid naturally rather than get vaccinated. The singer posted on social media that she was recovering and that, “Now there will be theater, sauna, [and] a concert.”

Two days later, on January 16, Horka reportedly said she was feeling better and decided to go for a walk, but then her back started hurting and she decided to lie down.

Ten minutes later, the singer was dead. “She choked to death,” her son said.

The daily number of Covid cases in the Czech Republic reached a record high on Wednesday, with over 28,000 new cases reported in a population of 10.7 million. The government has introduced a series of new measures to combat the spread, such as mandatory testing for schoolchildren and workers, while reducing the amount of isolation days for people who test positive but show no symptoms from 14 days down to five.