Due to the rising numbers of those infected with COVID-19, neighboring Slovakia will include the Czech Republic in its list of risky countries.
From Friday, Sept. 18, when arriving in Slovakia from the Czech Republic, people must either prove themselves with a negative test, or they must be quarantined for five days and then get tested.
However, the new regulation will have a number of exceptions. These will cover commuters within 30 kilometers of the nearest border crossing, students, educators, researchers, health professionals, farmers, social workers, critical infrastructure workers, some athletes, and artists.
The negative COVID-19 test must not be older than three days, otherwise anyone arriving from the Czech Republic would be required to isolate at home.
“This will be monitored through random checks and cell phone tracking,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Martin Klus on his Facebook. He was later criticized by the Prime Minister Igor Matovič for posting the information, as Matovič wanted to talk directly to the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš first.
According to Babiš, this step will not help economic relations between both countries. He also expressed a slight disappointment over the agreement that the borders between neighboring countries will not close.
The number of people infected in the last couple of days has risen sharply. There are now over 14,000 people infected in the Czech Republic, most of whom have a mild course of the disease, and 288 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, of which 69 are in severe condition, according to current data from the Czech Ministry of Health.
Since March 1, when the first cases of coronavirus infection appeared in the Czech Republic, 36,188 cases have been recorded. Nearly 21,300 patients were cured of the disease and 465 people with COVID-19 died. There were 19 deaths in the past week.
