Health Minister Vladimír Lengvarský (source: TASR)
The pandemic situation in Slovakia is under control, said Health Minister Vladimír Lengvarský (OĽaNO nominee) when commenting on the developments related to Omicron.
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The steep increase in both new daily cases and the positive rate of PCR tests is nothing the ministry would not expect, he added.
Meanwhile, PM Eduard Heger (OĽaNO) said that after the Omicron wave is over, some measures might be relaxed.
“This wave will be swift and quick,” he added.
Steep increase in cases and positive rate
The daily average of new positive cases revealed through PCR testing increased to 16,788, up 83 percent compared to last week.
The positive share of PCR tests at the national level accounts for 47 percent on average; in 30 districts, it was even more than 50 percent.
As for the seven-day incidence of cases, it rose by 107 percent to 1,711 compared to the previous week, with two districts reporting three times the number of cases (Púchov and Gelnica), and 57 districts with a more than 100 percent increase.
Seven-day incidence of cases in Slovakia. (source: NCZI)
Currently, there are seven districts with a seven-day incidence higher than 2,500, with the most being in the Námestovo (4,100), Tvrdošín (3,200) and Dunajská Streda (2,950) districts.
The number of people in hospitals increased as well, to nearly 1,700 (from some 1,500 reported last week). Also the number of cases when ambulances had to be dispatched to Covid patients has increased, throughout all regions. The highest increase was reported by the Prešov Region.
Despite the gradual increase in hospital admissions, Lengvarský says the hospitals are ready. He expects patients to spend a shorter time in hospitals and their condition to be less serious than during the Delta wave. Even though they have not been notified about any problems so far, he expects the possibility of problems with hospital staff members who will be under self-isolation.
Positive share of PCR tests on the total number of tests (weekly average) (source: NCZI)
Booster helps
Analysts from the Institute for Health Analyses, which runs under the Health Ministry, said that the slowest increase in new cases is being reported in districts with high share of boosted inhabitants.
“This means the booster is really helping to fight Omicron,” said analyst Martin Pavelka.
Nearly 1.5 million people have been administered the booster so far, which represents 63 percent of fully vaccinated people. At the same time, 88 percent of people aged 60 and over have the booster. Pavelka called this “the biggest success of the vaccination campaign.”
