Third wave gaining momentum. Half of Slovakia will be in the black tier

Bratislava should prepare for stricter measures, too.

Illustrative stock photoIllustrative stock photo (Source: TASR)

“This is probably the worst thing we’re experiencing,” said Health Minister Vladimír Lengvarský (OĽaNO) after the November 3 cabinet session about the steep increase in hospitalisations and deaths in the past week.

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The seven-day average of hospitalisations has increased to 1,454, up by 51 percent compared with the previous week, while the number of hospitalised patients with Covid rose to 1,774 (up 45 percent). At the same time, the average daily number of Covid-related deaths went up from 10 in the previous week to 28.

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If the situation continues worsening, it is possible the government will have to adopt tougher anti-pandemic measures, Lengvarský admitted. He also mentioned a lockdown could be a potential solution but added that it is not on the table for now.

The group of experts who serve as an advisory body to the Health Ministry is set to meet on Thursday, November 4, to discuss potential changes to the current alert system, known as the Covid automat. It will focus on the relaxation of some measures for fully vaccinated people in black-tier districts. Currently, restaurants, hotels, fitness centres and wellness centres must be closed even to them.

At the same time, the body wants to make sure that the measures in place are enforced, Lengvarský added.

“We need to adopt measures that will flatten the curve,” he stressed.

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Measures in Bratislava will toughen up

The deteriorating situation is also reflected in the map of districts. Only two - Komárno and Šaľa - will remain in the orange tier from next Monday, November 8.

Another seven will be in the red tier, including Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava. However, since the vaccination rate among the 50+ age category is higher than 75 percent, all five districts of the capital should not move into a worse tier because the 75-percent threshold enables a given district to lower their tier by two levels.

Inhabitants of Bratislava should not see curfew or ban on travelling. Capital reaches vaccination milestone Read more 

Altogether 34 districts will be in the dark-red tier and the remaining 36 in the black tier. Both apply quite strict anti-pandemic measures.

As there are many districts close to the 65-percent threshold of vaccinated people older than 50 years, which enables districts to lower their tier by one level, he called on people to get vaccinated.

Read more about the coronavirus developments in Slovakia:

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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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