bratislava_covid
Photo Credit: TASR/The Slovak Spectator

The third coronavirus pandemic wave has been ongoing for several weeks in Slovakia, driven by the Delta variant of the virus. The Slovak government responded with a new version of the system of measures, known in Slovakia as the Covid automat. The new warning system introduced in Slovakia has been in effect since 16 August.

The newly-founded system will govern the setting of the anti-epidemic measures at the district level, depending on the number of infections. In contrast to the previous warning system, the new Covid automat will take into account the share of the vaccinated population in the district.

For event organisers, the change in restrictions will mean that if an event takes place in a zone that is coloured red, the participants that have been fully vaccinated will be able to attend without limits. A list of participants, however, will be mandatory. For those who will provide confirmation of vaccination/negative test result/recovery from Covid, the capacity will be limited to 25% of a venue’s full capacity (a maximum of 150 participants).

The new COVID automat thus considers colour but also offers three options to organisers and operators of facilities: (1) basic, (2) OTP (vaccination, tested, recovered) and (3) fully vaccinated. Bratislava is expected to stay in the green tier, meaning for events:

1. Basic:

• for standing a maximum of 50% of the capacity
• for indoor and outdoor seating 75%
• however, up to a maximum of 1000 people outdoors and up to 500 people indoors

2. OTP (vaccinated, tested, recovered):

• for standing a maximum of 50% of the capacity
• for indoor and outdoor seating 75%
• unless the capacity can be determined up to a maximum of 5000 people outdoors and up to 2500 indoors

3. Fully vaccinated :

• without limits

grape_festival_bratislava
Photo Credit: Grape Festival

What are the tiers in the Covid automat?

The new warning system is simplified compared to the applied version thus far, with five instead of seven tiers of alert. GREEN districts will be the best off, meaning that they are in the monitoring phase. ORANGE districts will be on the alert tier. These will be followed by three warning tiers: RED, DARK RED, and BLACK in ascending order.

The Health Minister, Vladimír Lengvarský, expects some districts to never move higher than the green tier due to their sufficient vaccination rate. If that expectation materialises, it will particularly apply to Bratislava, which has the highest rate of the vaccinated population among Slovakia’s districts.

slovakia_bratislava
Photo Credit: The Slovak Spectator/TASR

General rules for visitors coming to Slovakia

At the latest, immediately on entering the territory of the Slovak Republic, individuals are required to register at korona.gov.sk/ehranica and subsequently to be able to show proof of this registration on request, even during their stay in the territory of the Slovak Republic.

Anyone entering the territory of the Slovak Republic by air must also complete a form at www.mindop.sk/covid/ before entering. Additionally, when arriving from a country outside the list below, a negative RT-PCR test result not older than 72 hours must be presented. All unvaccinated people entering Slovakia after 6:00 am on 9 July 2021 will have to undergo quarantine, which will end at the end of the 14th day if they are symptom-free and untested. The quarantine may be terminated by a negative RT-PCR test which is obtained no earlier than day 5.

If, after returning from abroad someone develops symptoms of COVID-19, they are required to report it to their general practitioner or paediatrician; if the individual does not have a doctor in the Slovak Republic, they must report it to the doctor of the respective municipality.