The office of Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini on Monday denied he had contracted the coronavirus, after speculation surrounding his hospitalisation with pneumonia.
“The Prime Minister is exhausted and has pneumonia, but that’s all,” Slovak government spokeswoman Patricia Macikova told AFP when asked about the rumours on Monday.
Rumours about Pellegrini’s health were circulating in European circles, as he attended the EU budget summit last Thursday.
Back home in Slovakia, he was admitted to hospital on Saturday. Pellegrini posted a photo of himself giving a thumbs-up from a hospital in Bratislava Sunday.
On Monday, he posted another message saying “I believe that tomorrow, in spite of everything, I will be able to return to work.”
No cases of coronavirus have been reported in Slovakia.
But the number of fatalities in China—where the virus emerged late last year—continues to rise, with 150 more than deaths taking the official toll to nearly 2,600.
And the spread of the virus in other parts of the world has accelerated over the past week, with Iran, South Korea and Italy emerging as new hotspots.