Districts in Slovakia already have to follow relatively strict restrictions. (source: TASR)
As many as 38 districts in Slovakia are struggling with the high community spread of the virus. Of the total number of PCR tests taken in the past week, over 25 percent were reported positive in five districts.
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The situation is getting worse, particularly in the north of the country.
“The worst situation, both from the point of hospitalisations and requests to send an ambulance to a positive patient, is in Žilina Region,” said Matej Mišík, head of the Institute for Health Analyses, running under the Health Ministry, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
The occupancy of Covid beds in this region is 30 percent of what it was during the worst of the previous wave. In the Kysuce region and the towns of Stará Ľubovňa and Bardejov, the bed occupancy is at 50 percent of the previous wave’s maximums.
Most infected are young people
Meanwhile, about one-quarter of the people identified as Covid-positive were under the age of 18, even though this age group represents only 19 percent of the entire population.
The map of districts from Monday, October 11. (source: Health Ministry)
The situation deteriorated the most in the districts of Stará Ľubovňa and Stropkov, both in the eastern part of the country. This is due to the frequency of weddings and parties attended by people from various parts of Slovakia, combined with the low vaccination rate, as reported by TASR.
On the other hand, the situation is improving in the Skalica district, which should switch from the dark red tier to the red tier of the Covid automat warning system starting next Monday, October 11.
As for the entire country, there will be 16 districts in the dark red tier with the strictest measures. In these districts, FFP2/KN95 respirators will be mandatory indoors and masks will be mandatory outdoors. Furthermore, the interiors of restaurants will only be open to fully vaccinated people. Another 43 districts will be in the red tier and 20 in the orange tier.
Although Bratislava fulfils the criterion necessary to be classified two tiers above what the current situation calls for, and potentially end up in the green tier, the regional hygienists decided to keep it orange, given the situation in the neighbouring districts.
