First factual answer? How Ovčáček (wrongly) communicated President Zeman .’s health

The public last saw President Miloš Zeman on September 1 in Brno at the start of the new school year. Subsequently, the head of state was admitted to the Central Military Hospital (ÚVN) in Střešovice Prague from September 14 due to “slight fatigue and dehydration”, Zeman was released on September 22. With regards to the hospitalization, there has been much speculation about the state of the president’s health, Castle preferring the tactic of not commenting.

According to the media, however, the reason for hospitalization is more serious, Zeman must have fluid in the abdominal cavity, which is associated with liver problems.

In early October, the head of the hospital and doctor Miroslav Zavoral visited the President at Lánech Castle, where Zeman had been living for a long time, and recommended that he return to the hospital, which the President refused. This makes the speculation even stronger. The news repeatedly asked the presidential spokesman Jiří Ovčáček about the current state of health of the head of state. Ovčáček does not answer questions factually and prefers to evaluate the personality of the interviewer.

Ovčáček received one of the first questions following information from the newsroom that the president’s condition had deteriorated on the morning of Tuesday, October 5. “How is President Zeman’s current health condition?” asked the editor of Novinek.

Ovcáček’s answer arrived in no time. “You don’t need to worry. The President is looking forward to post-election negotiations,” answered the civil servant’s question. However, the editor asked what kind of health the president is currently enjoying, not what he was waiting for.

“You have received the answer. You really don’t have to worry about Mr President’s health. I understand your nervous feelings, but I hope this reassurance will calm you down. If not, drink coffee,” the speaker interrupted.

The next round of questions came on Thursday afternoon after Zavoral visited the president again in Lány and advised him to change the planned program for health reasons and not to exercise the voting option in weekend elections at the polls.

Same question from the editor. “Mr. President’s health condition is many times better than the moral condition of Czech journalists,” the spokesman replied.

Information about the actual state of health of the president Hrad refused not only to journalists, but also to politicians and the public. Ovčáček only reassured on social networks that the visit to Zavoral in Lány and the ensuing hospitalization had been planned and “no hype happened”.

He changed his rhetoric only on Friday, when he admitted to Radio Z that Zeman wasn’t doing well. “Illness can strike anyone. After being hospitalized, he needs to gain strength. We have to realize that he is 77 years old, some diseases can just appear,” said Ovčáček.

At the same time, he denied that the president, who is supposed to be a key actor in post-election negotiations, would dispel doubts about his condition by speaking publicly: “It is now important that Mr. President has sufficient power to further work. There is no need to display it. .”

He also lied about the election

There is also uncertainty about when and where the president will vote. In recent years, she has cast her ballot at the ballot box at the elementary school in Stodůlky, Prague, where she lives permanently. Novinky Ovčáček also asked that question.

“The President will vote,” Ovčáček replied again on Tuesday when asked when and where it would take place. It will be published in due course, the spokesperson added.

President Miloš Zeman at the election of the House of Representatives

Photo: Office of the President of the Republic

It wasn’t until Thursday, the day before the opening of the polling station, that Zeman’s colleagues, following a doctor’s visit and recommendation, announced that the president would vote at the castle in Lány, where he would be visited by members of the local community. Election Commission. For this, Zeman needs a voter card, which can be submitted no later than Wednesday at 4pm. Zeman had to rely on this option and apply for a license early.

When asked how long the president has had a voter card, Ovčáček again refused to give a factual answer. “This is completely unimportant, so don’t expect any answers. The important thing is that the president will vote,” he wrote.

The evasive answer from Ovcáček’s spokesman was a sort of green, but the question remains whether the state of health of the president of the republic should also be communicated in this way. Some people believe they should know the condition of the top constitutional figure and the commander-in-chief of the Czech Republic’s armed forces, who will also have a significant say in post-election negotiations over forming a government.

On the other hand are those who include, for example, the Speaker of the House of Representatives for ANO Radek Vondráček or the Deputy Prime Minister and the head of the SSD Jan Hamáček, who claims that the state of health is a private matter even for the President of the Republic, and therefore it is up to him alone to provide information. about it, or not.

Zeman was supposed to appear on CNN’s Prima News talk show on Sunday, but that’s not going to happen. Ovčáček has not ruled out canceling Sunday’s post-election meeting with Prime Minister Andrej Babi (ANO), which was originally expected even after the program change.

President Miloš Zeman at the election of the House of Representatives

Photo: Jiří Ovčáček/Twitter

On Friday afternoon, Jiří Ovčáček published three official photos of his chosen head of state on his Twitter.

How the Palace informed about the health condition of former president Václav Havel

September 3, 1998

The president is feeling very well and the doctors also have reason to be satisfied with his state of health, personal physician Havel Ilja Kotík and nurse nurse Dana Toscaniová said yesterday. The president will be at the palace in Lány until September 15, when he is scheduled to leave for the United States. Over the next week, the new composition of the medical board treating the president should be known.
August 9, 1998 Regarding President Ilja Kotík’s persistent temperature, he said: “The temperature fluctuates throughout the day. Mr. President usually no temperature in the morning, but of course in the afternoon the temperature reaches a value of around 37.5 degrees Celsius. Of course, it could be related to inflammation, but maybe also to the increased effort the president is putting in because he’s already able to do it. Various inflammation parameters, both laboratory, hearing and others, are continuously evaluated and we will react if there is a signal.” said the doctor who treated the president, Ilja Kotík.
May 29, 1999 Václav Havel’s health improved so much that he was released from the hospital yesterday afternoon for treatment at home in the castle in Lány. “As part of his recovery, the president will be taking antibiotics until Sunday.” said Havel’s personal physician, Ilja Kotík yesterday. The president will be visited regularly by rehabilitation workers and personal doctor Ilja Kotík will visit every two days.
December 21, 1999 The fatigue that caused President Václav Havel to cut short his weekend visit to the Vatican does not appear to be the first symptom of a viral illness, as his doctors fear. The president felt better yesterday and his doctor Ilja Kotík only recommended one to two days of rest. “I think it will be fine, but I don’t want to shout it yet, said Kotik. Doctors stay alert, give the president vitamins, advised to drink Paralen if necessary.
December 21, 1999 The president felt better yesterday and his doctor Ilja Kotík only recommended one to two days of rest. “I think everything will be fine, but I don’t want to shout it out yet,” said Kotík, who was also satisfied with the fact that the president was gradually losing extra pounds. Losing ten kilograms of weight and improving physical condition were conditions for doctors to operate on Havel’s stomach hernia.
January 21, 2000

Doctors from the spa Karlova Studánek and from the presidential medical team agree that Václav Havel will benefit from his recovery in Jeseníky. The President’s personal doctor, Ilja Kotík, said that Václav Havel obtained energy at Karlov Studánek and improved his physical condition before it was considered a hernia operation, which is a leftover from colon surgery.

“The president’s health has even improved in several parameters. His respiratory function has also improved slightly. Rehabilitation continues to fulfill its goals, especially since we have so far avoided the flu outbreak which is important for the President,” said doctor Ilja Kotik.

Havel underwent a complex spa treatment for the first time in his life, and Kotík says that thanks to his rehabilitation at the climate spa, the president is better equipped to deal with the respiratory infections that have plagued him frequently in the past.

September 25, 2001

President Václav Havel was taken to hospital yesterday with heart problems.

“Shortly after the President boarded the plane before leaving for a state visit to Italy, he had a heart problem, a heart rhythm disorder, and therefore the treating doctor, Dr. Ilja Kotík, decided that the President should undergo an examination at the hospital,” said presidential spokesman Ladislav Paček.

November 30, 2001

President Václav Havel was released from the Central Military Hospital in Střešovice shortly after noon yesterday for treatment at home. Doctors treating President Ilja Kotík said he would probably spend the following days until the end of next week at the palace in Lány na Rakovnick.

The president, who is hospitalized with bronchitis, will continue to receive antibiotics over the weekend. “We’ll see after (their) suspension how it looks.” referred to Kotik for further treatment. According to him, the President’s condition in the last few days has been good, temperature-free since Wednesday. Health problems have plagued the president for years, the last time he was in hospital in late September with a heart rhythm disorder.

He was also hospitalized in February this year for bronchitis. Yesterday, the doctors examined the president thoroughly. According to Kolik, the results show the president’s right lung ventilation is good and the infection has subsided. According to Kotík, Havel’s recovery will proceed as usual. A nurse will be present at the castle in Lány during the first days. The 65-year-old president suspended his treatment in the hospital, which ended today, only on Sunday, October 28, when he was present at the awarding of state honors at Prague Castle.

Julia Craig

"Certified bacon geek. Evil social media fanatic. Music practitioner. Communicator."

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