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36 I Central Europe bne March 2021
As of February 17, the government approved a list of 19 districts to be labelled as the most severe degree concerning coronavirus. Schools are obliged to stay closed and people are allowed to go to work only with
a negative test for coronavirus no older than seven days. It's forbidden to leave or enter these districts.
The country also introduced mandatory 14-day isolation upon arriving in the country, with people obliged to wait
at least eight days before being tested with an RT-PCR test. The isolation also applies to those who have visited other countries in the past two weeks.
"People who have exclusively visited EU countries, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and the United Kingdom in the past 14 days are subject to isolation. The person will be tested by the PCR method on the eighth day of isolation at the earliest. If the person doesn't participate in testing but has no symptoms during isolation, it will end after 14 days," said Public Health Authority spokesperson Dasa Rackova, quoted by the Slovak News Agency.
The Slovak Association of Employers Unions called on the government to give the green light to the Russian anti-covid vaccine Sputnik V, even without the EU's approval.
"It isn't appropriate to pursue geopolitical interests at the moment.
We should focus on human lives instead. If we waited for a registration permit to be issued by the European Medicines Agency, we could be outmatched by other countries. There could be a lack
of vaccines, and this could lead to
a significant increase in the price of Sputnik V," said its general secretary Oto Nevicky.
The Slovak Pandemic Commission has recommended the government to start talks with the Russian side aimed at acquiring the Sputnik V vaccine. The ministers are set to discuss the issue on February 18.
“It is timely for the government to
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start talks with the Russian side about supplies of Sputnik V,” said Matovic on his Facebook, quoted by Reuters.
“The government will discuss this on Thursday morning,” he said. “I am in favour. It is a great vaccine with great efficiency. So far in the EU it is only being used by Hungary and I do not see a reason why we should not use it as well.”
All coalition parties but For The
People support the recommendation
of the Commission. For The People chairwoman Veronika Remisova said Slovakia should wait for the results of the evaluation of the Russian vaccine by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Same was stated by Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok on his Facebook page. Even though he is not against the use of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, he has reservations about whether it should be distributed in EU countries without EMA´s approval.
The junior government partner Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) agreed with negotiations with Russia, however it stressed that its safety and effectiveness must be confirmed by the Slovak State Institute for Drug Supervision.
"We're aware of people's demand
for vaccination, but it would be very reckless if we released Sputnik V without any control. It is therefore important
to contact our supreme professional authority first and foremost to do everything necessary to responsibly assess the benefits and quality of the vaccine," said SaS.
The Voice-SD party of former Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini criticized
the government for creating chaos in the anti-coronavirus measures and
for bringing the country to the worst place in terms of the number of deaths per million people. It called on the cabinet to resign, appealing to President Caputova to appoint an expert caretaker government to serve until a snap election can be held.
The resignation of Health Minister Marek Krajci was requested by former
health ministers Tomas Drucker (extra-parliamentary Good Choice), Andrea Kalavska and Richard Rasi (an Independent MP, working for Voice-SD).
"I view Krajci as a decent man, but
he should never have become
a health minister, as he doesn't have the managerial prequisites to serve
in such a post. This is especially true in the current crisis, when there's a need for vigorous and systematic crisis management of healthcare with an impact on the whole of society," Drucker told the news agency.
"I'm particularly unhappy about Krajci's personnel policy, favouring family members and friends at the expense
of professionalism. ... Despite our good personal relationship in the past, I believe that Marek Krajci should offer his post to a more capable manager as soon as possible," he added.
Kalavska called the current fight
against the pandemic in the country catastrophic. "The highest numbers of people per capita per day are dying from coronavirus in Slovakia, and the figures keep growing. I view this as sufficient reason for the minister to accept responsibility and resign," she said.
According to Krajci, thoughtless personnel changes definitely won't help to handle the coronavirus crisis. The health ministry spokesperson Zuzana Eliasova stated that the ministry is open to cooperation.
"The accessibility of treatment in Slovakia, purchase of artificial
lung ventilation well in advance, management of mobile points for testing people across the country to detect those infected, coordination of hospitals and setting up their capacities with regard
to healthcare for patients with other diagnoses, as well as other steps for the benefit of patients - this is the minister's daily agenda, along with managing important talks by the pandemic commission and setting the rules for the country along with other cabinet members," she said.