Illustrative stock photo (source: TASR)
Unlike previous Sundays, the number of new coronavirus-positive cases crossed the 200-threshold on September 27.
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Altogether 265 out of 1,954 tests came back positive, increasing the total number to 9,343.
The most cases were uncovered by regional hygienists in the districts of Námestovo (70), Bratislava (41), and Martin (16).
Virus in production plants and hospitals
Most people who tested positive in the districts of Námestovo and Tvrdošín (both in Žilina Region) were from two production companies.
One from Námestovo is active in mechanical engineering and employs 600 people. As more than 120 of them tested positive, the plant reduced its production by one-third and adopted strict measures to contain the disease.
Also a plant in the lower Orava region closed one of its production halls, after one employee from Námestovo was in contact with an infected person, the MY Orava regional newspaper reported.
In Martin, the most positive cases are students who have been tested by the local faculty of medicine. All of them are in isolation on a separate floor of the dormitory.
Meanwhile, the number of employees of Trenčín hospital who tested positive for the coronavirus increased to 20. The hospital has carried out 600 tests, with the disease confirmed in the case of eight doctors, seven nurses, one practical nurse, three hospital attendants and one internship student, the MY Trenčín regional newspaper wrote.
The hospital claims that medical care is still secured.
The cases may not reflect a spread
The current development of the spread according to the already revealed cases does not have to sufficiently reflect the total spread of the virus in the population, according to the analysts of the Council for Budget Responsibility (RRZ). They have compared how quick the SARS-CoV-2 virus is spreading in Slovakia in the previous months compared to the last weeks.
The advantage of the previous development was that our testing infrastructure was catching up, they said.
This means that the development of uncovered positive cases has correlated with the total estimate of the virus spreading in the population, where much higher cases than the revealed ones are expected, according to RRZ. WHO set the threshold for controlled spreading to 5 percent of positive cases from daily testing.
However, the threshold has been exceeded already, which is why the development of the spread of the uncovered cases does not have to sufficiently reflect the total spread of the virus in the population, RRZ analysts have warned.
Universities respond with remote learning
Meanwhile, several universities have decided to launch remote learning due to the worsening situation.
The two largest universities in Bratislava, Comenius University (UK) and the Slovak University of Technology (STU), will switch to online education from October 5.
In some special cases, it will be possible to come to the labs, but the number of students there will be limited to two.
In addition, their rectors have called on students to leave the dormitories. For now, the facilities will not be closed across-the-board, the TASR newswire reported.
The measures will be in place until further notice.
Also the Faculty of Mass Media Communication of the Ss Cyril and Methodius University in Trnava, which launched winter semester on September 28, opted for lectures held online.
