Prymula Spotted Leaving a Restaurant Without Face Mask. Opposition Demands Resignation

Health Minister Roman Prymula and MP Jaroslav Faltynek were seen leaving a restaurant on Thursday night that was supposed to be closed due to government epidemiological restrictions.

The Czech tabloid Blesk spotted Prymula shortly before midnight on Thursday evening, walking next to his driver without a facemask.

According to the current measures, restaurants should be closed, and facemasks must now be worn at all times in the presence of other people.

In his defense, Faltynek claimed that the meeting had taken place on Wednesday evening before the new facemask rules came into force, and in a salon at the restaurant which had been left unlocked by the owner.

“I apologize for breaking the rules, asking the Minister to meet in a closed restaurant,” said Faltynek. The owner Rio’s Vyšehrad restaurant left the ministers in a lounge room to “talk things over a coffee”.

Resign!
The resignation of the Minister of Health is demanded, among others, by the Deputy Prime Minister and head of the CSSD Jan Hamáček.

“The rules apply to everyone. Minister Prymula and Mr. Faltýnek must explain what they were doing in the middle of a state of emergency in a restaurant that it’s supposed to be closed. In addition, ignoring the wearing of a face mask is an absolute mockery of the citizens, it is clearly an inexcusable failure,” he wrote on Facebook.

Pane ministře @profesorPrymula omluvte se a okamžitě odstupte! Okamžitě, prosím! To je jediný způsob, jak ještě můžete přesvědčit veřejnost, že svá opatření myslíte vážně a že je lidé mají dodržovat. https://t.co/wxbXgyO4hK

— Miroslav Kalousek (@kalousekm) October 23, 2020

The coalition also called for the resignation of the Minister of Health of Prymula. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Jan Hamáček (CSSD) talks about “loss of trust”: