The omicron wave seems to be slowly at its peak and we could soon see the first releases. The Ministry of Health has already taken the first steps, which have also been confirmed by decrees of the Public Health Office. In addition, a new vaccine from Novavax will be started.
Archive VIDEO COVID situation is stable, at the turn of March and April there could be a bigger release
All operations will be in BASIC mode
All new retail operations will operate in base mode. It follows from Decree of ÚVZ SR, published in the Government Gazette of the Slovak Republic. Until now, only selected retail establishments, such as grocery stores, drugstores, pharmacies, later clothing, footwear, building materials and other stores, operated in the base mode. After the new one, there will be, for example, toy stores, electronics, bookstores and others in the “base”. All retail operations will be able to operate even after 22:00, so far only selected operations have also operated.
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Nothing changes for the gastro sector, hotels and more
The Office emphasized that the measures for service establishments have not yet been amended by these decrees. This means that services such as the gastronomy sector, human body care facilities, hotels and similar short-stay accommodation services, swimming pools, aqua parks, fitness centers and others remain in the regime and with capacity constraints as before – ie OP (vaccination / overcoming) or OP +.
According to the Office, services that may have operated in the OTP (vaccination / testing / overcoming) regime will continue to operate in this way. These are, for example, accommodation for ski or snowboard training and courses, accommodation in a hotel in connection with the performance of work or for the purpose of visiting a medical facility, cable cars and lifts, outdoor sports grounds and others.
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According to ÚVZ, the services that could have operated in the “basic” mode also remain unchanged. These are, for example, veterinary clinics, laundries and dry cleaners, collection yards and others. “Please note that limited hours from 5.00 am to 10.00 pm continue to apply to selected services, such as on-site gastronomic establishments, human body care facilities, fitness, wellness services, repair and service, outdoor sports grounds and more.” underlined ÚVZ SR.
The Office added that the decrees were based on an update of measures against SARS-CoV-2 (omicron variant), which was approved by the government on 10 February. The Ministry of Health identified the proposed modifications and releases as an acceptable risk. In the case of operations, other anti-epidemic measures still apply, such as the mandatory wearing of a respirator or capacity restrictions. The proposed measures were accepted by the ÚVZ SR and incorporated into the decrees. “We ask operators and customers to adhere to the applicable measures,” concluded ÚVZ SR.
OP + also includes persons who have overcome COVID
In OP + mode from Tuesday, people who overcame COVID-19 not more than 180 days ago are also included. At the same time, they are able to prove a negative test for COVID-19. This follows from the decree of the ÚVZ SR. According to ÚVZ, the RT-PCR and LAMP test not older than 72 hours and also the antigen test not older than 48 hours will be considered as a negative test. The conditions for organizing mass events remain the same as before.
Registration at Novavax
From Tuesday, February 15, it will be possible to register for vaccination with Nuvaxovid vaccine from Novavax on the website www.korona.gov.sk. The vaccine will be used for both first and booster doses. Automatic scheduling of second doses will be set at the earliest on the 21st day after the 1st dose. Registration will be possible for persons over 18 years of age. As previously reported by the ministry, the import of vaccine doses is tentatively scheduled for the end of February, with the vaccination itself starting thereafter. In total, Slovakia has contracted 600,000 doses of this vaccine.