Prognosis

Czech PM’s Popularity Plummets With New Virus Outbreak

Czech billionaire premier sees party’s, his own support plunge
New Covid-19 cases spike after country showed early success

People wearing protective face masks wait in line at a coronavirus testing center in Prague on Sept. 21.
Photographer: Michal Cizek/AFP via Getty Images

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By Lenka Ponikelska and Radoslav Tomek

September 23, 2020 at 10:09 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

A European leader who emerged as a trailblazer this spring with an uncompromising approach to stamping out the coronavirus has seen his popularity plummet after a record spike in infections.

Billionaire Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, whose government was one of the first in the European Union to shut schools and businesses and require people to wear masks, is now struggling to contain a surge in new cases that followed the lifting of restrictions in June.