A restaurant providing takeaways in Nitra. (source: TASR)
The third coronavirus pandemic wave has been ongoing for two weeks in Slovakia, driven by the Delta variant of the virus.
The Slovak government responded with a new version of the system of measures, known in Slovakia as the Covid automat. The system will govern the setting of the anti-pandemic measures at the district level, depending on number of infections. In contrast to the previous warning system, the new Covid automat will take into account the share of the vaccinated population in the district.
Here are answers to concrete questions on how measures will apply in the daily life of people in Slovakia. The Covid automat becomes effective as of Monday, August 16.
Find below answers to these questions
1. What are the levels of alert in the Covid automat?
2. What will the colour of the district depend on?
3. How will the colour of the district change based on Covid incidence?
4. How will the vaccination rate affect the colour of the district?
5. What may prevent a district from improving its tier?
6. How often will the colours change?
7. Where do I find the current map with the colours of districts?
8. My district will be orange. What should I expect in shops and restaurants?
9. What will the rules for restaurants and cafés be like?
10. How will facilities check me?
11. Will face masks be mandatory?
12. Will I be able to travel between districts?
14. Will I be able to shop if I'm not vaccinated?
15. Will I need to get tested to go to church if I'm not vaccinated?
16. Do I need a test to visit a social care facility or hospital?
17. Will hairdressers and other service providers close again?
1. What are the tiers in the Covid automat?
The new warning system is simplified compared to the applied version thus far, with FIVE instead of seven tiers of alert.
GREEN districts will be the best off, meaning that they are in the monitoring phase. ORANGE districts will be on the alert tier. These will be followed by three warning tiers, RED, DARK RED, and BLACK in ascending order.
The Health Minister Vladimír Lengvarský (OĽaNO) nominee expects some districts to never move higher than the green tier, due to their sufficient vaccination rate.
If that expectation materialises, it will particularly apply to Bratislava, which has the highest rate of the vaccinated population among Slovakia's districts.
