Illustrative stock photo (source: TASR)
Slovakia has confirmed novel coronavirus outbreaks in the northern towns of Čadca and Krásno nad Kysucou, and in Spišské Podhradie in the east. The number of COVID-19 tests performed daily has significantly dropped and some experts fear superspreading.
Epidemiologists Alexandra Bražinová and Martin Pavelka wrote an opinion piece for Denník N on June 21, claiming that the second wave of the epidemic is upon Slovakia.
When they endeavoured to set the reproduction number of the coronavirus infection in Slovakia, they arrived at the highest number recorded in the country since the pandemic started: 3.39. The R number must be under 1 if the infection is to stop spreading. The value that the experts have calculated might be perceived as a signal that the contagion is spreading faster.
Yet the calculations of the epidemiologists should be seen as a warning rather than a fact. The number is a mathematical result that is distorted with the low number of tests, and thus the low number of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases.
"Talking about a second wave based on the R number and the increasing number of people who test positive is premature, I believe," epidemiologist Zuzana Krištúfková reacted to the article written by her colleagues.
The good condition the country is in epidemiologically, however, should not be considered a final state for Slovakia.
