No changes to measures in districts or border rules expected

But the worsening situation in some holiday destinations increases the risk of getting infected.

Illustrative stock photoIllustrative stock photo (Source: TASR)

Neither the measures in Slovakia’s districts nor the rules at the borders will change in the near future.

Health Minister Vladimír Lengvarský (OĽaNO nominee) said after the July 21 cabinet session that all districts will remain in the green tier of the Covid automat alert system from next Monday, July 26.

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This means that the measures will remain very moderate, but some requirements remain in place. Masks or other face-coverings must be worn inside buildings and at mass events while a negative Covid test result is necessary when going to swimming pools, wellness centres, weddings or parties.

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Situation abroad worsens

The cabinet does not plan to change the current border rules either.

Although the situation in Slovakia remains quite good, this is not the case for some other European countries, some of which are already struggling with the third pandemic wave. The highest increase in daily positive cases has been reported by Cyprus, the UK, the Netherlands, Spain, Malta, Portugal, Greece, Denmark, and Russia.

At the same time, the increase in new cases is expected to accelerate in Malta, the Netherlands, Spain, Austria, Greece, Switzerland, Denmark, and Belgium.

“Some of these places are popular holiday destinations for Slovaks, so the risk of importing the virus is quite high,” said Matej Mišík, head of the Institute for Health Analyses, which runs under the Health Ministry.

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72 confirmed Delta cases

How many people have died after vaccination? The authority has two different statistics Read more 

Meanwhile, the sequencing of positive Covid samples has confirmed 72 new cases of the Delta variant. As much as 63 percent of them were imported from abroad (both EU and non-EU countries, including popular holiday destinations).

Some of these cases were close contacts of the already identified cases, but other cases were identified in people who have not travelled abroad or have been in touch with people who have. The majority of people who tested positive with the Delta variant were unvaccinated, the Public Health Authority (ÚVZ) reported.

The labs have identified 107 cases of the Delta variant since June. Although the Alpha variant is still dominant in Slovakia, the share of Delta variant cases will likely increase.

Vaccination is still considered the most effective tool to fight Covid and the virus mutations, and the vaccination of people older than 50 years is expected to be crucial in the third pandemic wave. There are still several districts where the vaccination rate of this population is below 50 percent. Around 840,000 people over the age of 50 have not been inoculated yet.

Read more about the coronavirus developments in Slovakia:

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