Kosovo PM tests positive for coronavirus

PRISTINA: Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti said late Sunday he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus and would self-isolate for the next two weeks. “Today I did the test for the COVID-19 and tested positive,” Hoti wrote on his Facebook account.

The prime minister said he had started 14 days of self-isolation, during which he would perform his duties from home. “I have no signs (of the disease), except a very mild cough,” said Hoti, who took only over as prime minister in early June. Like the rest of the Balkans region, Kosovo has reported a surge of coronavirus infections since June. It is one of the poorest countries in Europe with the most fragile medical infrastructure. The nation of 1.8 million people has so far registered some 249 deaths and nearly 9,000 infections. The head of Kosovo´s health sector unions Blerim Syle warned earlier this month that the country could become the Wuhan of the Balkans — a reference to the Chinese region hit hardest by the virus. Late in June Bosnia´s 53-year-old minister for veterans affairs, Salko Bukvarevic, died after contracting the coronavirus.