News digest: Covid prevailed among young people in July

Good evening. The Wednesday, August 18, 2021 edition ofToday in Slovakiais ready with the main news of the day in less than five minutes. We wish you a pleasant read.

Mostly young people infected by Covid in July

(source: TASR)

From a total of 1,234 cases of Covid-19 detected in Slovakia in July, positive cases in the 15-19 and 20-24 age groups prevailed.

One third of the cases were imported from abroad, including the Delta variant. The data suggests that the virus was imported from a total of 23 countries, with most coming from Spain, Croatia and the UK.

As many as 27 percent of positive cases were asymptomatic, while in 57.5 percent, people suffered from sore throat, runny nose or coughing. Another 9.7 percent had febrile symptoms (fever, shivering), while other Covid-19 symptoms were present in less than 3 percent.

From the overall 1,234 positive cases detected in July, 170 people were fully vaccinated. This is a very good share with the Delta variant in the air, said Mária Avdičová from the Regional Public Health Authority (RÚVZ) in Banská Bystrica, which analysed the cases.

How will the new school year look like?

When will a school need to close? Will my child have to get tested regularly? What if my child tests positive using the home rapid test? Will my child need to wear a mask to school?

The Slovak Spectator provides answers to these questions and more:

Coronavirus and vaccination news

(source: TASR)

112 people were newly diagnosed as Covid-positive out of 6,472 PCR tests performed on August 17. The number of people in hospitals dropped by one to 71 people. The vaccination rate is at 42.39 percent, 2,331,182 people having received the first dose of the vaccine. More stats on Covid-19 in Slovakia here.
3,081 people are registered in the virtual waiting room for the first dose of the Covid vaccine; 97 people are awaiting the second dose of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V.
The State Institute for Drug Control (ŠÚKL) does not anticipate long-term side effects of the Covid vaccines, claiming that if there were any, they would already be recorded. The first clinical trials started in the spring of 2020.
59.4 percent of Bratislava inhabitants have received their first Covid jab and 56.5 percent are fully vaccinated, said the city's mayor, Matúš Vallo.
It is possible to book a date and time for antigen testing in the selected hospitals at Covidforms.nczisk.sk (Slovak only), with the test costing €5. The list of antigen testing sites at hospitals can be found here. There might be more testing sites not on the list, but the ministry does not guarantee the price of an antigen test.

Travel info

People who transit via Slovenia will have no exemption from quarantine from August 23. Everybody entering the country just for transit will have to show a negative coronavirus test at the borders (antigen no older than 48 hours or PCR no older than 72 hours), or certificate of vaccination, or confirmation of recovery from Covid-19.

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Picture of the day

Slovak firefighters return from Greece (17 photos)

President Zuzana Čaputová and PM Eduard Heger met with Slovak firefighters who helped battle forest fires in Greece, returning to Slovakia after eight days.

(source: Presidential Office)

Feature story for today

I had thousands of books at home, but I was only able to take a few with me, Afghan-Slovak film director Sahraa Karimi said about her abrupt departure from Kabul earlier this week. She left her homeland when the Taliban entered the capital.

In other news

The state started to send IDs without a photo to people older than 65 and younger than 15 who do not have the ID with an electronic chip. They can use the IDs to access electronic medical records, but not for travelling.
Slovakia will have 27 athletes representing the nation at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games, which will take place between August 24 and September 5. In 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Slovaks collected 11 medals, including five gold.
The situation concerning the lack of semiconductors remains tense, confirmed Ján Pribula, chair of the Slovak Automotive Industry Association. He expects that the development in at least the first half of 2022 will not differ significantly from the current situation.
Construction output in the eurozone decreased by 1.7 percent month-on-month in June and by 1.2 percent in the EU, according to the seasonally adjusted data. Slovakia saw a 6.5 percent m-o-m fall, the most among the member states for which the data is available.
Peter Sagan and Chris Froome will attend the Around Slovakia cycling race, which will take place between September 15 and 19. (Sportnet)
Slovak enterprises continue to expand their business in the Czech Republic. Altogether 201 Czech companies ended up in the hands of Slovak owners in the first half of this year, and their total number rose to 14,517, according to Dun & Bradstreet.