Illustrative stock photo (source: TASR/AP)
Q: I was in close contact with a COVID-19 positive person, what should I do?
Q: I live in a household with a positive person. Am I going to be tested?
Q: What are the fines if I do not remain in quarantine, even though I was ordered to do so?
Q: When is a person considered to be cured and appears in the statistics of cured people?
Q: There is someone positive at my workplace. What are the duties of my employer in this case?
Q: I have tested positive. What do I do?
A: If you received a text message with a positive result, remain at your place of quarantine. You should avoid any social contact, you should not accept visits to the place of quarantine, neither go to school or work.
Observe your health condition. In case your health deteriorates, contact your GP by phone. GP will also issue confirmation of sick leave for your employer.
You should also contact people with whom you were in close contact in the last 14 days and ask them to remain isolated. Hygienists will also ask for a list of your contacts with their telephone numbers, so you can write it down.
The Regional Public Health Authority should contact you, but this may take several days, as they are extremely busy.
Q: I was in close contact with a COVID-19 positive person, what should I do?
What is a close contact?
personal contact with COVID-19 case at less than 2 metres and more than 15 minutes
physical contact with COVID-19
unprotected direct contact with COVID-19 in a closed environment for more than 15 minutes
sitting next to a COVID-19 positive person on a plane at a distance of two seats
A: Observe your health condition, if you detect any symptoms (fever, coughing, breathlessness, loss of taste and smell), immediately contact your doctor and relevant Regional Public Health Authority.
A GP will also indicate your health condition and issue a confirmation for sick leave.
The positive person you have been in contact with should report you as their close contact and the Regional Public Health Authority should contact you automatically. You should also avoid social contact and stay home, do not go to school or work and do not leave your place of isolation. The quarantine lasts ten days.
Q: I was in close contact with a positive person. I should stay in quarantine, but I have not been tested yet, so I have no positive result. Am I entitled to sick leave?
A: Yes, you are. You have to contact your GP by phone, who will write down a confirmation of pandemic sick leave and send it to the social insurer Sociálna Poisťovňa. The insurer should contact you, asking if you want to use your right to sick leave. A person is entitled to refuse the sick leave benefit (for example, when agreed with an employer to work from home), but there is still the obligation to stay in quarantine.
The employee is obliged to immediately inform the employer about whether the person is in quarantine or isolation.
>> Follow news about the coronavirus development in Slovakia here.
Q: I was in close contact with a positive person, but I tested negative. Does that mean my quarantine is over?
A: No. You are obliged to remain ten days in quarantine regardless of the test result. After the quarantine is over, you should report it to your GP or hygienist. If fever or other symptoms of respiratory disease appears during isolation, contact your doctor immediately.
Q: I was ordered to stay in quarantine but I have not been tested. Can I finish my quarantine after 10 days, too?
A: If you were in quarantine at home without being tested, isolation is over after ten days if there have been no clinical symptoms in the last three days of the quarantine.
Q: I was in contact with a positive person, but I am not a close contact. What should I do?
A: ThePublic Health Authority recommends observing your health condition every day. If you have any symptoms, you should remain in isolation and contact your doctor. Otherwise, you should limit all physical contacts and avoid travelling. Doctor or regional hygienist may order you not to go to work, in case you work with endangered groups of population (seniors, patients, etc).
Q: I tested positive. When can I leave isolation?
A: It depends on how serious your symptoms were. If you had no symptoms, you may leave isolation after ten days from the day you tested positive and no other RT-PCR test is required.
If your symptoms are mild, isolation may end at the soonest ten days since the first symptoms appeared (or a positive RT-PCR test) and not sooner than three days after the symptoms have vanished. But the duration of the isolation cannot be shorter than ten days. No other RT-PCR test is required.
If your symptoms are serious, you have to stay in isolation at least 20 days from the day the symptoms appeared (or positive RT-PCR test) and if you are at least three days without symptoms. No other RT-PCR test is required.
All COVID-19 positive people should be in contact with a hygienist or GP, so in case of any question turn to them.
Q: I live in a household with a COVID-19 positive person. Am I going to be tested?
A: Not necessarily, it depends on the decision of the regional hygienist. You are a close contact so you should automatically stay in quarantine and leave only after your COVID-19 positive contact will be able to leave (see above).
Q: What are the fines if I do not stay in quarantine, even though I was ordered to do so?
A: It is classified as a misdemeanour in terms of public healthcare and the fine is €1,659. In block proceedings, the police may also impose a fine of up to €1,000.
Q: When is a person considered to be cured and so appear in the statistics of cured people?
A: Every person who is positive with COVID-19 is recorded in the Epidemiological Information System. The respective epidemiologist or doctor will make a record of recovery after the person is able to leave isolation (see above).
Q: There is someone who is COVID-19 positive at my workplace. What are the duties of my employer in this case?
A: The Regional Public Health Authorities cooperate in the case of an infection at the workplace with the employer in order to impose anti-epidemic measures. It is in the interest of employers to also have a prepared crisis plan in cases of workplace infections. The employer should follow the plan as well when there is no COVID-19 case confirmed at the workplace.
Source: Public Health Authority
