Krajci: Possibility of Imposing Curfew on Table
Bratislava, December 14 (TASR) – The anti-coronavirus measures that are supposed to come into effect on December 21 will be tightened, Health Minister Marek Krajci (OLaNO) announced on Monday following the Government’s special session, adding that the possibility of introducing a curfew hasn’t been ruled out.
The Government is supposed to adopt the final decisions regarding the matter at its session due to be held on Wednesday.
“The tightening won’t concern only shops, as a curfew of some kind is on the table. We haven’t yet specified who and what will be exempted from the curfew, but we want to do it in a manner that will eliminate the risks stemming from the epidemic during Christmas as much as possible,” stated Krajci.
The Government on Monday discussed a new form of national COVID-19 traffic light, the so-called “COVID automaton”. Economy Minister Richard Sulik (SaS) appreciated that Krajci presented a predictable and logical plan for fighting the virus in individual regions. According to Sulik, the COVID automaton will allow people to know in advance what awaits if the development of the virus in their region takes a turn for the worse or better.
Sulik explained that according to the automaton restrictions will be applied across the board if a certain point is reached. “This will be when there are 1,500 hospitalised people, the basic reproduction number of the virus exceeds 1.1 and there’s more than 1,000 new daily infection cases. If these criteria are met, across-the-board measures will be implemented, and such measures are coming on December 21,” stated Sulik, noting that if the figures fall below the aforementioned limits, measures will be adopted on the level of regions. In Sulik’s view, this is very reasonable.
Details concerning the COVID automaton should be fine-tuned on Tuesday. “These are only technical details. The Government will then approve the automaton on Wednesday. At the same time, we’ll also address the measures that will come into effect on December 21. They’ll be harsh, but we can’t avoid them because the virus has grown out of control,” remarked Sulik.
