More than 44,000 sick cases reported. (source: FOTOLIA)
This time last year, 3,541 people were hospitalised with Covid-19 in Slovakia. Today it is a mere twelfth of cases, 307 people.
Unlike November 2022, when hospitals had exceeded their capacities for treating Covid patients, and had to prioritise patients for lung ventilation based on their recovery prospects, today the residents of Slovakia do not really have to cope with the complications or restrictions designed to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The rules have shrunk to a five-day isolation after a positive Covid test, followed by five more days' obligation to wear a respirator in public.
Yet, paediatricians report that they have had to deal with other acute respiratory diseases significantly more than in previous years. Their reports are also supported by data, according to which last year from September to the end of the year, the most respiratory disease cases other than Covid were dominant in mid-October, with 35,278 sick people.
In contrast, in late November 2022, epidemiologists recorded 44,919 cases of various types of acute respiratory diseases, 10,000 more than in the previous year. The increase is set to continue in the upcoming weeks.
“We’ve got a lot of cases,” says Elena Prokopová, the Health Ministry’s expert for the general care of children and adolescents.
The Office of Public Health (ÚVZ) reports a "slight" increase in infections compared to the previous flu season.
