Children return to school, more measures to be lifted soon (news digest)

This is your overview of news from Monday, June 1. For a commented weekly overview, take a look at the latest Last Week in Slovakia published this afternoon.

Back to school

Children returned to schools and kindergartens after almost three months. President Zuzana Čaputová, PM Igor Matovič and Education Minister Branislav Gröhling welcomed some of them to the classrooms.

The Interior Ministry noted a record interest in the eKarantena app on May 30. Altogether, 1,268 people used the possibility of home quarantine. The app is working at 12 border crossings. “On Sunday afternoon, more than 5,400 people were using the app,” said Barbara Túrosová, spokesperson of the ministry. The app is available at the AppStore, too.
The quarantine linked to COVID-19 disease in Žehra, the last closed locality in Slovakia, was cancelled on May 30. The quarantine town will be dismantled. After repeated tests on Thursday and Friday, no new cases were detected. (Sme)
Isolation for employees of the Social Services Centre in Pezinok where the virus broke out in April is over. The regional hygienist agreed with the requirement of the Bratislava self-governing region and 24 employees could leave the facility after six weeks. The quarantine was imposed on April 12. The majority of people who were in the facility on that day left it for the first time today.

Interior Minister Roman Mikulec named Pavol Mikulášek as president of firefighters and rescuers. Pavol Nereča is leaving the position of his own volition and he will use his experience as vice-president. (Sme)
Changes at the Financial Administration. Its President Lenka Wittenbergerová dismissed the director of the Criminal Office of the Financial Administration, Ľudovít Makó. He is stepping down from June 2. (Sme)

The trial continued with a psychological assessment of Marian Kočner. The trial is set to continue on June 17.

The new chair of the non-parliamentary party Most-Híd is former environment minister László Sólymos. He was elected on Saturday at the party assembly in Fiľakovo. (TASR)

The state budget gap widened by over 700 million euros in May. At the end of the fifth month, the Finance Ministry registered a cash deficit of the state budget at €3.136 billion. It thus more than doubled y-o-y and exceeded by over 13 per cent the amount budgeted for the whole year already after five months. (SITA)
By the end of May, courts in Slovakia issued certificates for temporary protection to 98 businesses, three of which subsequently applied for revocation. According to an analysis by CRIF - Slovak Credit Bureau, the largest group consists of 24 companies engaged in wholesale and retail trade, and the repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, followed by 12 companies in industrial manufacturing. "The largest employers are the furniture company Decodom in Topoľčany and Nexis Fibers from Humenné, which produces synthetic fibers," said CRIF SK chief analyst, Jana Marková. (SITA)