On Wednesday, laboratories in Slovakia confirmed the presence of the delta variant of novel coronavirus in the country. The infected person arrived from Russia, has reportedly not been in close contact with anyone, has not been admitted to hospital, is currently in home quarantine and following all anti-pandemic measures.
PM Eduard Heger believes that Slovakia is ready for delta variant. "The only question is to what extent we will introduce measures so that they are appropriate." According to Heger, it is possible to introduce e-quarantine only when a state of emergency is declared, which is not planned now. PM added that e-quarantine is "just a tool", "not a cure" and it is now the task of the Public Health Authority of the Slovak Republic to prepare it.
On Tuesday, Slovak Health Ministry asked Slovaks to go to safe countries if they travel abroad during the summer holidays. Moreover, the Slovak Health Ministry is preparing for a possible next wave of the disease by implementing various steps. These include, for example, groundwater monitoring, expanding the capacities of sequencing and PCR testing, and strengthening tracing capacities.
The Slovak Medical Chamber sees the solution in the introduction of a mandatory quarantine until a negative PCR test result is obtained.
On Wednesday, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď stated that the Slovak Armed Forces are ready to assist the police at border crossings if necessary. He added that they would do their utmost to ensure that people cross borders only if they have been tested or vaccinated.
In order for Slovaks to be protected against a third wave of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Health Ministry called on them to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
As of Wednesday, general practitioners in Slovakia can register to administer vaccines against COVID-19. Also on this day, Slovak Catholic Bishops published a press release which states that the Church respects the option of free choice for everyone, but perceives the effort to stop spreading the pandemic via inoculation as beneficial.
