On Thursday August 12, the Public Health Authority of the Slovak Republic published the first three decrees based on the new version of the COVID automaton. They concern the wearing of face masks and respirators, visits to hospitals and the isolation of people who have tested positive. They will be valid from Monday August 16. They also amend the definition of a fully vaccinated person. The upper limit for the duration of vaccination against COVID-19, hitherto set at 12 months, will no longer be stated.
The Public Health Autority also issued new directives on granting access to mass events and establishments. Following the new rules, establishment owners and mass event organisers will decide themselves to whom they grant access and their choice must be displayed either at the point of entry or in the interior. "There are three modes to choose from - access for fully vaccinated only, OTP (for vaccinated, negatively tested and those who overcame COVID-19) and the so-called base mode, meaning all customers/visitors," stated Authority's spokesperson Marek Elias. As he added, different restrictions will apply to each mode chosen at different alert levels.
Certain conditions for audiences, staff and premises will also apply to theatre performances, concerts and audiovisual performances in green districts (i.e. in most of Slovakia) as of Monday (August 16), according to the new culture 'traffic lights' approved by the Government at its online session on Thursday evening. There will be no limits on events held in green districts if only fully vaccinated people take part in them. In the case of arrangements for events open to vaccinated and negatively tested people and those who have overcome COVID-19, the ceiling for outdoor events will be 5,000 people, with 2,500 people the limit for indoor ones. If anyone can attend an event, the maximum capacity for an outdoor events has been set at 1,000 people, while the limit for indoor events will be 500 people.
If the situation worsens, conditions for cultural events will be toughened up. For example, in orange districts the maximum capacity under OTP arrangements will be 50 percent, but with no more than 1,000 people allowed at outdoor events and 500 people at indoor ones. In red districts the maximum numbers will be 500 and 250, respectively.
Wearing face masks remains obligatory in interiors in green and orange districts, and respirators will become obligatory at higher levels of threat, when a district becomes red, dark red or black in colour, as stated the Public Health Office (UVZ). "In districts with the monitoring (green) and vigilance (orange) levels, it will be possible to replace the respirator with a face mask, shawl or scarf," said Marek Elias. In the open air, covering the nose with a respirator or face mask will be obligatory at the second (dark red) or third (black) levels of threat. At the monitoring (green), vigilance (orange) or first level of threat (red), covering the nose in the open air will be obligatory only at mass gatherings.
"Teaching and specialised staff will not have to cover their noses when teaching children with hearing disabilities, disorders on the autistic spectrum, medium to serious mental disabilities and other health problems," added Elias. The other regulations remain unchanged.
The new COVID-19 'Automaton' system introduces transparency, intelligibility and comprehensible rules, which were previously lacking, Michal Kalinak of the Slovak Association of Towns and Villages (ZMOS) stated on Thursday. The lack of such clearly-set rules in the past was causing significant complications for regions and also contributed to tensions between people while inspiring mistrust against the system, added Kalinak. "However, it must be said that only practice will reveal potential pitfalls and risks," Kalinak told TASR. He warned that if there are excessively different requirements at the regional level placed on vaccinated and non-vaccinated people, it might lend weight to an impression of support for two categories of citizens.
Source: TASR
