Omicron is prevailing in new coronavirus infections in neighbouring countries. The variant has not forgotten about Slovakia, however.
Until January 10, the country had strict anti-pandemic measures; a strong Delta variant wave; and practically no tourists, who could have arrived with Omicron, were visiting the country. These are three main reasons, according to analysts, why the new wave has not started.
There is an increase in people who test positive, but not as steeply as in neighbouring countries. For example, there were 3,208 new cases on January 15, while at the peak of the third wave at the turn of November and December, there were about 10,000 cases daily.
“The growth of Omicron is already high in the neighbouring countries,” explains mathematician Richard Kollár. “Slovakia and Ukraine have not detected this wave, as the only ones among a few European countries.”
“It would be crazy to expect that it will completely evade us,” said analyst Martin Šuster from the Science Helps initiative. “Thinking that all neighbouring countries will get Omicron except for us.”