Border controls stricter, police promise lanes for the vaccinated

Good evening. The Tuesday, July 6, 2021 edition ofToday in Slovakiais ready with the main news of the day in less than five minutes. We wish you a pleasant read.

Hot days ahead

Illustrative stock photo (source: TASR)

The new working week started with extremely high temperatures. The meteorologists even issued warnings against hot weather, especially in the southern parts of Slovakia. In some districts, temperatures may be as high as 35 or 36 degrees Celsius on Wednesday and Thursday.

“High temperatures may be dangerous to human health and physical activities, and may cause fires,” the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMÚ) stated.

Police launches intensive border checks

(source: SITA)

Many people arriving in Slovakia these days will not be able to evade border checks. Police patrols are particularly focusing on the obligation to fill in the eHranica online form prior to arrival at the border.

The patrols may also ask which country the people are arriving from and ask to demonstrate an EU Digital Covid Certificate or other document proving they are vaccinated against Covid, have recovered from the disease, or taken a Covid test with a negative result.

The Health Ministry stresses that everyone coming to Slovakia has to be registered with the eHranica form, even if only returning from shopping in the border regions. It is now possible to register as many as 30 days in advance.

Police recommend preparing these documents beforehand to shorten the inspection, and thus secure the flow of traffic. An extra lane for vaccinated people may be a possibility.

Apart from more intensive border checks, the police have closed some smaller and less frequently used border crossings.

Border controls on July 6 (9 photos)

More coronavirus and vaccination developments

Illustrative stock photo (source: SITA)

Laboratories performed 2,889 PCR tests on Monday, 15 of which were positive. The number of hospitalised patients with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 dropped by10to 120. One more person died of Covid.
12 million antigen tests purchased by the state will expire in 2022 and 2023; the Health Ministry plans to use them if the epidemiological situation in the country worsens. Currently, there are 120 mobile testing sites across Slovakia carrying out PCR tests, with a daily capacity of 30,000 swabs.

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Picture of the day

Employees of the Tatra National Park, with the help of volunteers, will count chamoix in the Tatras on July 7. Simultaneously, the count will also take place on the Polish side of the national park.

(source: Unsplash)

Feature story for today

Law firms in Slovakia are innovating the processes they follow to provide legal services. At the same time, individual innovations correspond to world trends and predictions. Several offices have implemented tools that involve artificial intelligence.

In other news

Given the repair works on thetraffic island at Hodžovo Square in Bratislava, drivers and pedestrians should prepare for some restrictions at least until August 15. The public transport stop of Hodžovo Square was temporarily moved by 45 metres, in the direction of Pražská Street.
It is currently forbidden to light candles at Bratislava cemeteries and crematoriums due to droughts and hot weather.
Former special prosecutor Dušan Kováčik will remain in custody, as stems from the Supreme Court's decision. The court had to decide on Kováčik’s complaint from November 2020 again, after the Constitutional Court accepted the complaint that Judge Juraj Kliment was not unbiased.
Retail revenues went up by 11.5 percent year-on-year in May 2021, and by 5 percent compared with May 2019. A higher turnover was reported by supermarkets, mail order and internet sales, according to the data of the Statistics Office.
Real estate prices in downtown Bratislava and Košice fell slightly in the second quarter of the year, according to the Nehnutelnosti.sk real estate website.
A shortage of specialists like allergists, neurologists and endocrinologists still exists in Slovakia, as confirmed by all three health insurance companies in Slovakia.
The Panta Rhei bookshops and the Ikar book publisher will have the same owners. The Antimonopoly Office approved the acquisition of Panta Rhei by Patrik Tkáč, the co-founder of the J & T financial group, and Ladislav Bödők. At the same time, the two entrepreneurs, along with Igor Mrva, will control the IKAR publishing house.