COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia
The virus was confirmed to have spread to Slovakia on 6 March 2020 when Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini announced that a 52-year-old man was infected.
[5] Pellegrini adopted some of the strictest precautions in Europe at the time by banning all personal international flights, rail and bus travel, and unnecessary foreign travel; implementing border checks and a compulsory 14-day quarantine for everyone returning from abroad, and closing all schools nationwide.
[6] The following precautions were also taken: On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.
On 26–27 February, the annual Biogen conference took part in Boston attended by 175 executives, including from Slovakia.
The conference was later identified as a super-spreading event with 300,000 additional cases of COVID-19 being attributed to it, notably in the United States, Australia, Slovakia and Sweden.
[46] 9 March The condition of the first infected man had gotten worse, and he was transported to an intensive care unit.
Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini said that these people had been in contact with the infected Slovak family in Kittsee, Austria.
[50] 12 March Six new cases of patients were confirmed by the prime minister at the country's crisis meeting which started at 11AM.
According to Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini, "Everything which is not vital will be closed for 14 days", in order to restrict the propagation of the virus.
The International Ice Hockey Federation cancelled the World U18 Championship Division I Group A in Spišská Nová Ves, (13-19 April).
[58] 27 medical workers from the emergency department in Kramare hospital were quarantined, after a colleague of theirs - a surgeon tested positive upon returning from abroad.
The second largest and also international train station in Bratislava - Petržalka stopped all passenger transport and also closed the underpass connecting Panónská and Kopčianska streets.
[70] The infectious hospital at Kramáre set up a tent for triaging and testing in front of its ordinary entrance.
[71] Late in the evening the first plane with 198 passengers on board brought Slovaks willing to return home from abroad.
The plane came from the United Kingdom, all passengers were tested and underwent a mandatory quarantine in the center in Gabčíkovo.
The Kardiocentrum Nitra closed on this day and the staff were quarantined after the admission of a patient suspected of having Coronavirus.
[73] Also in Nitra, a second tent was raised at the hospital grounds to serve as a temporary infectious triage centre.
[75] Slovaks returning home with the help of the government filled all three quarantine facilities (Gabčíkovo, Liptovský Ján, Donovaly) ran by the Ministry of Interior.
[78] The entire gynecological department of the University hospital in Ružinov, Bratislava was closed today, after it was discovered that a doctor has recently returned from abroad.
[81] 60-year-old man has died just hours after being released from hospital where he was treated at pulmonary department and tested for COVID-19 with positive result.
[83] Due to a surge in infections, Slovakia has imposed stricter restrictions for unvaccinated citizens effective 22 November.
