PM Eduard Heger (source: SITA)
The pandemic alert system, known as the Covid automat in Slovakia, will most likely change.
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The coalition council agreed that people living in black-tier districts who have been fully vaccinated against Covid or have recovered from the disease will be able to enter restaurants or accommodation facilities. Under the current rules, they are closed for everybody.
“The number of infected people is rising steeply, and Slovakia is turning black,” PM Eduard Heger (OĽaNO) wrote on Facebook. “Thus, we have decided to act – motivationally, but also strictly.”
Apart from introducing benefits, the coalition council agreed on regular controls of whether the rules in place are observed.
“I believe the operators will be wise and won’t risk sanctions by avoiding the rules,” Heger added.
What should change?
Apart from more benefits for the vaccinated and those who have recovered from Covid in the black-tier districts, the coalition council agreed on the following changes that still need to be discussed by the cabinet:
if a person refuses to show a Covid pass (containing a confirmation of vaccination, recovery from Covid or negative Covid test result) and prove their identity, the operator of a facility or the organiser of a mass event will be obliged to ban them from entering the premise or attending the event;
if the person breaches the measures issued by the Public Health Authority (ÚVZ), the operator of a facility or the organiser of an event will be entitled to order them to leave the premises;
ÚVZ and the police will have new powers to impose a fine directly on the spot or close the premises immediately;
if a person offends medical staff or falsifies a Covid pass, it will be possible to fine them up to €1,000;
employers will be allowed to ask their employees to show a Covid pass;
unvaccinated employees working in black-tier districts who have not recovered from the disease will have to be tested, at least twice a week. The costs should be covered by the employer;
pandemic sickness benefit (PN in Slovak) will be the same as the standard sickness benefit;
mandatory vaccination for certain groups will not be introduced for now.
More details about the changes will be presented after the cabinet session.
Yet, it is already clear that the proposals are milder than what the group of experts advising the Health Ministry recommended late last week. They proposed, among other things, the restriction of movement for unvaccinated people living in black-tier districts.
