Overview of news Slovakia from Friday, May 15, 2020.

This is your overview of news from Slovakia on Friday, May 15.
For all news about the coronavirus in Slovakia click here.

Coronavirus in Slovakia

Slovak-developed coronavirus tests have been registered and put to use.
Three new COVID-19 cases were detected in Slovakia on Thursday. See the complete coronavirus statistics.
Slovakia's attempt at a smart quarantine should be put into operation on Monday, May 18, following its approval in parliament. The app would be an option instead of quarantine in state facilities for those who voluntarily decide to use it. PM Igor Matovič said the recent Constitutional Court decision to suspend the amendment to the telecommunications law does not prevent the government from applying the use of this app in this way.
As of Monday, May 18, there will be more exceptions to compulsory quarantine in state facilities, for people working in Czechia and Austria in selected areas, people living in one household with cross-border workers, or students who take part in training in Czechia, Austria, Hungary or Poland. (Sme)
All tests for the presence of the novel coronavirus in the waste water in the Bratislava and Trnava regions have returned negative results. (TASR)

The incumbent chair of the non-parliamentary party Progressive Slovakia, Michal Truban, has changed his mind and will run for the chairman post after all. The congress will take place online, on June 6. Deputy chair Irena Bihariova will run too. (FB Michal Truban).
The far right politician Marian Kotleba did not turn up to a Specialised Criminal Court session in the case of the controversial donations he distributed. He said it was due to the parliamentary session that he needs to attend. Prosecutor Tomas Honz labelled it an obstruction. The trial has been postponed to May 28 and 29. (TASR)

Slovakia's GDP fell by 3.9 percent year-on-year in constant prices in the first three months of 2020. In the last quarter of last year, the Slovak economy grew at a rate of 2.1 percent, and for the whole of last year it grew by 2.4 percent. Read the analysts' comments and expectations.
Employment in Slovakia decreased in the first quarter of this year. According to the Statistics Office, employment in this period reached 2.426 million people. Compared to the first quarter of last year, it fell by 0.5 percent. After an adjustment for seasonal effects, total employment decreased by 0.4 percent compared to the first quarter of 2019 and by 0.5 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. (SITA)
Industry in Slovakia recorded the weakest demand for production in the past eleven years this March. The volume of new industrial orders this March reached 3.748 billion euros, which meant a year-on-year drop of 26.1 percent. Industry in
Slovakia last remembers a similar year-on-year decline from the period of the economic crisis in 2009. (SITA)

Jaguar Land Rover confirmed they were going to restart production on May 18 in the Nitra plant. Volkswagen is adding a second shift in its Bratislava plant next week. The Žilina-based Kia factory is now running a two-shift operation. The PSA plant in Trnava has restarted production this week.

Looking for some good reads for a rainy Friday and lazy weekend? Check out our roundup of travel and lifestyle stories for this week.