(source: SME.sk / Hej,ty)
Good evening. Catch up on the main news of the day in less than five minutes with the Tuesday, September 28 edition ofToday in Slovakia. We wish you a pleasant read.
Slovakia is in desperate need of stability, president addressed MPs
President Zuzana Caputova delivers her state of the republic address in parliament on September 28, 2021. (source: Sme - Jozef Jakubco)
Čaputová delivered her second state of the republic address in parliament. She addressed the pandemic and its consequences for Slovakia and its inhabitants, noting that fear and anger are prevailing emotions in the country.
"The threat that should have united us became the source of the strongest line of conflict," she said.
She said she had a positive attitude toward vaccination but noted that "the fact that someone is not vaccinated does not make them a bad nor stupid person".
The president reproached those who are abusing the topic to unleash hate towards others.
She also mentioned the economic recovery plans and need for justice reforms, as well as the deteriorating standard of political communication.
It was a balanced speech that truthfully described the reality, including the shortcomings and achievements of the government, PM Eduard Heger (OĽANO) said. He also agrees that the situation in the police needs to be addressed.
"Her observation that the pandemic caused fear and consequently anger in the people was also valuable, and, unfortunately, some of it began to benefit people politically," Heger said.
Coronavirus and vaccination news
(source: Sme - Marko Erd)
1,012 people were newly diagnosed as Covid positive out of 11,086 PCR tests performed on Monday. The number of people in hospitals has increased to 523. The vaccination rate is at 44.42 percent; 2,443,062 people have received the first dose of the vaccine. More stats on Covid-19 in Slovakia here.
The Health Ministry recommends that citizens get tested with PCR tests if they have Covid-19 symptoms. In case of symptoms, PCR tests are funded through health insurance. People can register for PCR tests at www.korona.gov.sk.
The Faculty Hospital in Nitra will limit planned surgeries that require an anesthesiologist from Wednesday, September 29. The measure is linked with an increase of patients with Covid who are in a serious state and need to be connected to lung ventilators.
The Delta variant in children looks more like the flu, as a high temperature, full nose and wet cough are among the symptoms, according to pediatricians. Doctors in Slovakia know about 24 child patients with Covid that currently require hospitalization.
Feature story for today
Bangladeshi publisher Ahmedur Rashid Chowdhury’s first impression of Bratislava was that it was closer to Bangladeshi society than Skien.
“I told my friend that this city reminds me of Bangladesh. People are more open here, I think,” he said.
Photo of the day
The exhibition of nominations for the best product design of the 18th National Design Award at the Slovak Centre for Design will be open to the public until December 19, 2021, always from 14:00 to 18:00 on Wednesday-Sunday.
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In other news
The National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) lowered its estimation of this year's economic growth to 3.5 percent. In June, NBS expected the GDP to grow by 4.5 percent. Next year, it forecasts a growth of 6.3 percent as well as higher inflation.
The police investigation into murder preparations of prosecutors Maroš Žilinka, Daniel Lipšic and Peter Šufliarsky has ended. The Special Prosecutor's Office pressed charges against five people: Marian Kočner, Alena Zsuzsová, Tomáš Szabó, Dušan Kracina and Darko Dragic.
The investigator of the National Criminal Agency accused 15 people of the crime of establishing, conceiving and supporting a criminal group and of drug-related crimes. During home searches, they seized more than nine kilograms of methamphetamine, from which at least 90,000 single doses of the drug could be made. They also secured weapons, ammunition, cigarettes and more than €70,000 in cash. Among the accused is Slovak influencer Zuzana Plačková and her husband.
Slovakia is 37th in the world ranking of innovation. As the Industrial Property Office reports, Slovakia has moved to this position in the Global Innovation Index 2021 after five years of constant decline from the 39th position. The ranking is published by the World Intellectual Property Organization.
Last year, during the pandemic, the number of cases of domestic violence increased by almost a fifth in Slovakia. This is despite the fact that overall criminality has fallen. According to the prosecutor's office, these cases involved not only violence against children and partners, but also against parents in the same household.
The Environmental Fund started paying a contribution to the recovery of bio-waste from households. A total of €1.2 million is to be redistributed to 21 municipalities. The fund will provide a contribution according to the amount of recovered kitchen waste.
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