News digest: Opening of Bratislava bypass postponed

Good afternoon. The weekend is coming and we have prepared a quick summary of the main news of the day in our Friday, September 24, 2021 edition of Today in Slovakia. We wish you a pleasant read.

For weekend tips and reads, check out our Spectacular Slovakia weekly roundup. This week, Peter Dlhopolec is writing about new Slovak music, the hike to Minčol, and a book theft case that has finally been solved.

Opening of all the stretches of the long-awaited D4/R7 bypass of Bratislava is postponed. (source: TASR)

Problems with opening of the Bratislava bypass continue

Not all remaining stretches of the long-awaited D4/R7 bypass of Bratislava will open on Sunday, September 26, as originally planned. Due to some missing permits, only a short stretch with the Lužný Bridge will open. The remaining two stretches should be put into operation in early October.

Picture of the day

Lužný Bridge will be put in operation on Sunday, September 26. (source: TASR)

Lužný Bridge will be put in operation on Sunday, September 26, as one of the last stretches of Bratislava's D4/R7 bypass.

Feature story for today

Is Bratislava, a historically multicultural city, as diverse as it used to be? Do foreigners have a loud enough voice in local government?

Bratislava Mayor Matúš Vallo, elected for the post with no previous experience in municipal government in 2018, answered these and some other questions in a discussion with foreigners earlier this week.

Vallo, whose first term as mayor ends in the autumn of 2023, declared that making Bratislava a more integrated city is a priority for him until the end of his term.

“An important question is how are we going to use the energy of foreigners to improve the future of Bratislava,” Vallo told the discussion participants.

Birthday of today

Peter Dvorský (source: TASR)

Tenor Peter Dvorský, a prominent opera singer also known as Pavarotti from Slovakia, celebrates his 70th birthday.

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Coronavirus and vaccination news

829 people were newly diagnosed as Covid positive out of 8,010 PCR tests performed on September 23. The number of people in hospitals has increased by 54 to 496 people. The vaccination rate is at 44.23 percent; 2,432,830 people have received the first dose of the vaccine. More stats on Covid-19 in Slovakia here.
Slovakia will donate 160,000 AstraZeneca vaccines to Taiwan.
Those who have overcome Covid-19 and were vaccinated at the same time have the best immunity, claimsinfectologist Pavol Jarčuška.

In other news

Parliament did not oustInterior Minister Roman Mikulec (OĽaNO) on Friday, September 24, after a long discussion. The motion was initiated by the opposition Smer party.
The Wolt delivery company, which has been operating in Slovakia for two years, has extended its operation. It will start operating in four other Slovak cities in the coming weeks. These are Zvolen, Trenčín, Liptovský Mikuláš, and Martin. Wolt will also open its first brick-and-mortar store, Wolt Market, at the end of the year. In addition, it will offer deliveries of additional goods, a new Wolt at work service for businesses, and cash payments for orders.
Workingfrom home permanently is not appealing for people in Slovakia. The opportunity to work remotely is attractive to only 8 percent of respondents. Compared to a group that wants permanent work from home, almost five times as many people want to go to work every day, accounting for 38 percent of respondents, a survey conducted by Profesia and Open HR Forum initiative indicates.
Four leading central European gas infrastructure companies including Slovak Eustream have joined forces to develop the Central European Hydrogen Corridor, a highway running through central Europe to Germany and the EU that will transport hydrogen from Ukraine.
Smolenice is the latest Slovak town to offer a bike-share scheme. A total of 30 bikes, spread between five stands, are available.
The European Week of Sport started on Thursday, September 23, and will culminate with #BeActive Night 2021 in Bratislava on Saturday, September 25.
Slovak company Slowlandiawon the award in the prestigious food competition Great Taste for the fourth consecutive year and thus became the most awarded Slovak company.
The second weekend of the White Night festival is underway.