Czech President Milos Zeman has appointed opposition leader Petr Fiala as the country's new prime minister.
Mr
Zeman - who tested positive for coronavirus last week - made the
appointment from inside a plexiglass box in a state room at his
residence.
The
president was wheeled in by hospital staff in full protective gear.
Czech rules require a positive patient to observe two weeks of
self-isolation.
He caught Covid just after a spell in intensive care for unrelated problems.
The 77-year-old is a heavy smoker and former heavy drinker who uses a wheelchair and suffers from diabetes.
Under the Czech constitution, the president is a figurehead, but he leads talks on forming a new government.
Last month's vote returned a surprise win for the opposition against Prime Minister Andrej Babis.
Speaking through a microphone inside the sealed box, Mr Zeman said he
would spend the next two weeks interviewing nominees for minister, even
though the choice of candidates is supposed to be up to the prime
minister-designate
This process will continue until 13 December, at which point the new
government as a whole can be appointed to take over from Mr Babis.
