The pandemic situation in Slovakia is still under control, Health Minister Vladimir Lengvarsky said on Wednesday, adding that the rising numbers of positive people in the country were expected. On Tuesday, Slovakia has seen a record number of positive cases, 20,224. Richard Szabo of the Health Analyses Institute said that when compared to last week, there was also an increase in ambulance trips to COVID-19 patients. The positivity of PCR tests has also gone up, while the nationwide increase is from 37 to 47 percent. More than 30 districts have an average PCR test positivity of over 50 percent.
Meanwhile, fire-fighters have already started setting up triage tents in front of hospitals. The triage tents should be operated near 20 hospitals across the country. "By running such tents, it will become possible to protect emergency rooms, classify patients more efficiently, particularly with the use of antigen testing and discover the travelling history of the patients, while providing them with health treatments and determining the most suitable transfer for those in need of hospitalisation," explained the Health Ministry.
“When the omicron wave subsides, Slovakia will probably follow the trend of other countries and will relax its anti-pandemic measures”, Prime Minister Eduard Heger stated on Wednesday, adding that he is planning to discuss this with the council of experts. He remarked in this regard that Slovakia's new daily coronavirus-infection rate is increasing steeply at the moment, but the wave should be intense and swift. At the same time, according to the PM, the situation in hospitals is good; with not even one third of the available beds being occupied. Economy Minister Richard Sulik is in favour of easing the measures. He suggests that everyone should be allowed to protect themselves, adding that the state should publish options for protection, from face masks and tests to vaccines. According to Sulik, the relaxation of measures will not be introduced from one day to another.
