A Czech folk singer who refused to get vaccinated has died after she ‘deliberately’ caught Covid to avoid government restrictions to encourage vaccine uptake.

Hana Horka died two days after revealing she had tested positive for the illness and was recovering but the truth according to her son, was that the 57-year-old vocalist for the band Asonance, got infected on purpose to get a recovery pass that gives unvaccinated residents access to certain venues in the country.

Jan Rek said he and his father, who are both fully vaccinated, contracted the virus over Christmas and Horka refused to isolate away from them. He claimed his mother wanted to catch Covid so there would be fewer restrictions on her movement.

Horka’s death comes as the Czech Republic reported a record number of Covid cases on Wednesday – 28,469 recorded out of a population of 10.7million.

Two days before her death, Horka wrote on Facebook: ‘I survived … It was intense. So now there will be the theatre, sauna, a concert … and an urgent trip to the sea.’

On the day she died, Horka said she was feeling better and got dressed to go for a walk, however, her back started hurting and she went to lie down.

According to her son, Horka ‘choked to death’ and that ‘in about 10 minutes it was all over.’

Although his mum was unvaccinated, Rek insisted she didn’t believe in conspiracy theories surrounding the vaccine, saying: ‘Her philosophy was that she was more ok with the idea of catching Covid than getting vaccinated. Not that we would get microchipped or anything like that.’

In sharing her story, he hoped it would encourage others who held similar views to get vaccinated, with experts previously insisting the benefits of being vaccinated far outweigh any potential side effects.