News digest: Ministry promises to solve problem with vaccine certificates

New Covid automat rules become effective. Carmaker Stellantis suspended production again.

(Source: SME.sk / Hej,ty)

This is the Monday, May 17, 2021 edition of Today in Slovakia. Learn about politics, business, and other notable events of the day in Slovakia in less than five minutes. If you like what we are doing and want to support good journalism, buy our online subscription. Thank you.

SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement
SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement

For deeper insight into the current affairs in Slovakia, check out our Last Week in Slovakia, published earlier today:

It’s official: the second wave in Slovakia is now over Read more 

Slovakia is missing uniform vaccination certificates

Slovakia has dropped out of the deal the Czech Republic signed with Poland, Hungary, Austria and Germany on recognising their vaccination certificates, which came into force on Saturday, May 15.

SkryťTurn off ads

The fact is that Slovakia does not have any uniform Covid vaccination certificates, and the confirmations issued by the vaccination centres differ. Some do not even contain a stamp from the hospital where the person received a Covid jab.

The Health Ministry is currently working on a universal form people will receive after getting vaccinated, which should be recognised abroad, and will introduce the form in the coming days, as its spokesperson Zuzana Eliášová said.

Official statistics suggest that more than 1.4 million people in Slovakia received their first Covid jab as of May 16, and more than 663,000 have been administered the second shot.

Slovakia drops out of travelling agreement due to lack of uniform vaccination certificates Read more 

New rules come into force

Most measures in the new Covid automat alert system came into force today, setting new conditions for restaurants, shopping centres, fitness centres, water parks and wearing masks and respirators.

SkryťTurn off ads

The most relaxed rules are found in the four districts that switched to the orange tier on Monday, namely the districts of Hlohovec, Nitra, Senec and Topoľčany.

Another 50 districts are in the light red tier and 23 in the red tier. Only two districts, Myjava and Sobrance, remain in the dark red tier, meaning the measures there will be the strictest.

At the same time, all schools have opened across the country, except for universities. These can open only in the orange districts, with limitations.

The current valid rules for respective districts can be checked at the Automat.gov.sk website, but only in Slovak.

The cancellation of the national emergency also means that people can now travel abroad for holidays, and the curfew and the ban on assembly have been cancelled as well.

Anti-pandemic measures change again – some restaurants will be able to serve indoors Read more 

More Covid and vaccination news

  • 136 PCR tests out of 3,154 carried out on May 16 came back positive (4.31 percent), and 195 out of 100,939 antigen tests (0.19 percent) were positive. 14 more people died of Covid, increasing the total number to 12,238.
  • The Czech Republic has relisted Slovakia as a red-tier country from Monday, meaning that people need to show a negative Covid test result when crossing the borders and then self-isolate until they receive a negative PCR test result.
  • Altogether 2,528 people have cancelled their vaccination appointments for the second shot of the AstraZenec Vaxzevria vaccine in the past seven days, the statistics of the National Health Information Centre (NCZI) show.
  • Health insurers have paid more than €58.9 million for the treatment of Covid patients since the pandemic outbreak. More than €40.2 million has been paid by the state-run Všeobecná Zdravotná Poisťovňa (VšZP).

Picture of the day

Peter Sagan has won the 10th stage of the Giro d’Italia, and is now the leader of the points classification.

Feature story for today

May 17 is recognised as the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. On this occasion, the OZ Mladí civic association has launched a campaign to increase the acceptance of people belonging to the LGBTI community in Slovakia.

The fight for the rights of LGBTI people has deep roots in Slovakia, proven by this archive story about the very first gay rights activist.

First Slovak LGBTI activist has fought for 40 years Read more 

In other news

  • The Judicial Council has approved eight new judges for the newly established Supreme Administrative Court. They advanced to the second part of the selection proceeding, where their judicial competence will be checked.
  • The National Criminal Agency (NAKA) checked the rental of the building where the Justice Ministry now resides, even before it was used as one of the reasons for an attempt to oust Mária Kolíková (Za Ľudí) from the post of justice minister. The investigator found no misconduct. (Denník N)
  • Part of a ceiling at the kindergarten on Medená Street in Bratislava has collapsed. Two children suffered a shock, and one had to be transported to hospital.
  • The Trnava-based carmaker Stellantis had to suspend production for all three shifts and the administration today.
  • Transport Minister Andrej Doležal (Sme Rodina) will recall the chair of the board of directors of Bratislava airport, Matej Hambálek, citing loss of trust and a unsatisfactory explanation of some of his managerial decisions. He was appointed in early April 2021.
  • Slovakia sold state bonds for €528.7 million in four auctions held on Monday. The total demand amounted to €839.7 million, the Debt and Liquidity Management Agency (ARDAL) reported.
  • Private carrier Flixbus will restore buses between Košice – Prague and Košice – Plzeň from May 27.

More on Spectator.sk

Matovič sees decarbonisation as the only way to secure the future of Košice steelmaker Read more 

Families set to receive hundreds of euros. Who is entitled? Read more 

New and reconstructed castles Šášov and Revište draws in new visitors Read more 

If you have suggestions on how this news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.

Top stories

The New Stations of the Cross combine old and new.

New Stations of the Cross to combine surviving remains and contemporary architecture.


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.


SkryťClose ad