News digest: People should think twice about organising family gatherings

Here's what happened in Slovakia on Friday, August 14, 2020.

Illustrative stock photoIllustrative stock photo (Source: SME)

This is your overview of news from Slovakia on Friday, August 14, 2020. Take a look at our weekend reading tips.
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Family events should be reassessed

Slovakia is in the first stage of the second coronavirus wave Read more 

The testing from August 13 revealed 62 new cases, increasing the total number to 2,801. The most new cases were uncovered in the Trenčín Region (23 in total).

According to the regional health authority in Trenčín, most cases were detected in connection with two family parties, with some people attending both. It recommended that people reconsider planning bigger family events.

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People should also think twice before travelling abroad.

Economy fell, but not as much as expected

Slovakia’s economy contracted by 12.1 percent year-on-year for constant prices in the second quarter of this year. The country’s gross domestic product fell by 8.3 percent compared with the first quarter of 2020, the Slovak Statistics Office announced in its GDP flash estimate.

The volume of GDP at current prices in the second quarter of 2020 reached €21,210.5 million which represented a decrease of 10.4 percent in comparison with the same quarter of 2019.

The contraction of Slovakia’s economy during the second quarter of 2020 was smaller than originally expected.

“The relatively strong recovery of key industry [the automotive sector] in the last month of the quarter probably helped to mitigate the economic downturn in the second quarter,” analyst Ľubomír Koršňák of UniCredit Bank Czech Republic and Slovakia wrote in his memo.

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Exits from Prístavný Bridge will be closed

Drivers in Bratislava should prepare for some traffic restrictions after the exits from Bratislava’s Prístavný Bridge to Bajkalská and Slovnaftská Streets, travelling away from Petržalka borough, will be closed the night of Friday, August 14.

The closure will also affect public transport.

The traffic restrictions are expected to end in late March 2021.

In other news

  • Trnava car-maker PSA announced its first case of coronavirus reportedly in a man from eastern Slovakia. He is in quarantine, as well as two colleagues who were in direct contact with him. The other 19 had indirect contact. They are all waiting for test results. (My Trnava)
  • Peter Pellegrini is ready to submit an application for his party Hlas (Voice) to be registered to the Interior Ministry. He has collected more than 94,000 signatures.
  • Rescuers helped 77 people who collapsed from heat on August 13. The most cases were in the Trenčín and Žilina Regions (14 each), while the least occurred in the Trnava Region (six). (TASR)
  • Labour Minister Milan Krajniak (Sme Rodina) wants to introduce a new fund lasting until 2022 to support employment for companies and the self-employed. Employers and self-proprietors will send money to the fund; their levies will not increase.
  • The Wizz Air airline has a new connection from Košice to the Doncaster Sheffield airport in the UK, starting on October 23. It will be the second destination to the UK operated from Košice.
  • New orders in industry increased by 51.5 percent month-on-month in June 2020 after seasonal adjustment, amounting to €4.3189 billion. The number of new orders did not change by annual comparison. (Statistics Office)

Our weekend reading tips from Spectator.sk:

Related article Planned changes to controversial citizenship law slammed as not going far enough Read more 

Related article Foreign students are coming. Tests and isolation planned for those from risky countries Read more 

Related article Slovaks and poppies: An inseparable duo for centuries Read more 

Related article Slovak startups eye Germany when scaling up their businesses Read more 

Related article Winemakers celebrate return of top-class Slovak natural wines to the market Read more 

Top stories

Janka, a blogger, during the inauguration of the first flight to Athens with Aegean Airlines at the airport in Bratislava on September 14, 2023.

A Czech rail operator connects Prague and Ukraine, Dominika Cibulková endorses Pellegrini, and Bratislava events.


Píšem or pišám?

"Do ľava," (to the left) I yelled, "Nie, do prava" (no, to the right), I gasped. "Dolšie," I screamed. "Nie, nie, horšie..." My Slovak girlfriend collapsed in laughter. Was it something I said?


Matthew J. Reynolds
Czech biochemist Jan Konvalinka.

Jan Konvalinka was expecting a pandemic before Covid-19 came along.


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