UPJS's Medical Faculty Reports 15 Coronavirus-positive Foreign Students

Kosice, September 22 (TASR) – The Medical Faculty of Pavol Jozef Safarik University (UPJS) in Kosice has reported 15 foreign students who tested positive for coronavirus up to now, including seven arriving from the so-called safe countries, faculty dean Daniel Pella told TASR on Tuesday, adding that the university has recorded five more cases at its dormitories.

Pella specified that the coronavirus-positive students had no, or only very slight symptoms of the respiratory disease. “In line with the chief hygienist’s regulation, the mandatory testing only applies to students coming to Slovakia from high-risk countries. However, our faculty has decided to test all foreign students with regard to students’ potential contact with patients in our education bases,” said Pella, adding this applies to some 1,300 students.

Seven mass sample-takings have taken place up to date, in which 1,131 students have been tested. The faculty bears the cost of the testing.

UPJS’s foreign students coming from the so-called red countries, who applied for accommodation at UPJS’s dormitories, must show a negative PCR test from their home countries. They must undergo a mandatory five-day quarantine in earmarked premises and a subsequent co-ordinated testing. Five coronavirus-positive cases have been recorded so far. “All of them have been isolated in separate rooms and the course of the diseases didn’t require them being taken to a hospital. They’re gradually undergoing repeated testing,” UPJS spokesman Tomas Zavatcan told TASR, adding that the university provides accommodation to some 200 foreign students.

UPJS ceremonially opened the academic year 2020/2021 on Monday (September 21).