Slovakia to Restrict Unnecessary Travel Abroad Until April 28
Slovakia will restrict unnecessary travel abroad, starting from March 20, due to the recent rise in the number of Coronavirus cases, the country’s Interior Ministry has announced.
According to the announcement, the recent measure is foreseen to be kept in place until April 28; however, the country’s government may lift it earlier if the COVID-19 situation in other countries ameliorates, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
Slovakia’s police will tighten its controls in order to verify passengers’ purpose of traveling abroad. If travelers violate the recently imposed measures, they risk facing a €1,000 fine.
In addition to that, police officers will carry out controls at Bratislava, Košice, and Poprad airports in order to prevent non-essential travel abroad and slow the COVID-19 spread.
Recently, the country has been ranked among the world’s worst-hit territories from the pandemic, with about 4,000 persons receiving medical treatment in hospitals and nearly 100 daily deaths.
On Tuesday, the country’s Health Ministry stressed that the death toll, including suspected and confirmed COVID-19 victims, surpassed 10,000.
Based on figures published by Worldometers, Slovakia has registered a total of 346,149 cases of COVID-19 infection since the pandemic started to attack all countries worldwide widely.
The same source reveals that over 8,890 persons have died from the virus in Slovakia, while 255,300 have recovered.
Slovakia is the 44th most infected country globally, with 81,955 active cases.
Fears that dangerous virus mutations could continue to worsen the country’s situation pushed Slovakia’s government to introduce several preventive measures to halt the further spread of the disease.
Previously, the country’s government announced that all passengers wishing to enter the country by air or land must first follow 14 days mandatory quarantine rules. However, the government back then clarified that the self-isolation period could be ended on the 8th day if passengers get tested for COVID-19 and receive a negative result.
The Interior Ministry of Slovakia highlighted that not all persons would need to follow these rules. The ministry clarified that commuters, students, land managers, caregivers, etc., will be excluded from the two weeks mandatory quarantine rules.
However, the announcement stressed that all persons who belong in any of the categories mentioned above would be required to present a negative result of the PCR test taken during the past seven days.
