People still have to wear FFP2 respirators indoors and at mass outdoor events. (Illustrative stock photo) (source: Archive of Sme)
The almost three-week-long war in Ukraine has come to overshadow all other topics in Slovak society, the pandemic included.
When Russia invaded Ukraine, the peak of the Omicron wave in Slovakia had already passed. State authorities and volunteers are now focused on the Slovak-Ukrainian border, which has witnessed more than 220,000 refugees streaming across it since the war started.
But observers are warning people that the pandemic is still far from over. In fact, a new uptick in cases is expected in the coming weeks. This new wave has two causes, according to mathematician Richard Kollár, a leading observer of the pandemic in Slovakia – but he stresses that the arrival of Ukrainian refugees in Slovakia is not one of them.
“People should still behave reasonably, it is not the end of the pandemic yet,” he told The Slovak Spectator.
Increase in positive cases expected
Even though the daily increase in positive cases is not around 20,000, as it was at the beginning of February when the Omicron wave peaked, PCR tests still reveal some 10,000 new infections per day.
The Omicron wave is receding in Slovakia, but this may change soon. One indication of such a development is the number of positive cases in the Czech Republic, where the decline of the Omicron wave has stopped and Czech observers say they now expect another “little wave”.
