The Slovak authorities have decided to extend the required period of self-isolation for travelers reaching the nation from high-risk areas, from ten to 14 days.
The decision has been announced by the government through a Decree of the Public Health Office of the Slovak Republic no. 41/2021, which prescribes measures in the event of a threat to public health to the quarantine obligations of individuals after entering the territory of the Slovak Republic.
The Slovak Ministry of Interior has also issued a press release notifying on the new stricter measures, also explaining that arrivals will need to take the second test on their eighth day of self-isolation, instead of taking it on the fifth as it has been so far.
“Extension of domestic isolation and determination of a later date of testing was made on the basis of recommendations from international health institutions, which assessed the risks associated with new mutations within the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” the press release explains.
It also notes that the mutations have led to a worsening of the epidemiological situation within the areas in which they have spread, and in order to reduce the number of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths, the authorities saw it necessary to introduce additional measures to reduce the risk of transmission.
“When arriving from European nations, you can avoid isolation by submitting a negative test,” the Ministry of Interior notes.
Further, it highlights that those that visited the 27 EU nations, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland within the last 14 days and do not prove a negative RT-PCR test performed outside the territory of the Slovak Republic in the last 72 hours before arrival, will have to self-isolate.
Within the case of Austria and the Czech Republic, the test results can also be of an antigen test, not older than 72 hours. Self-isolation is an also obligation for arrivals from these two nations that fail to present test results upon reaching any of Slovakia’s ports of entry.
The quarantine can end on the eighth day if the person tests and results negative for COVID-19.
Exempt from the requirement of testing are all children under the age of 10. Their isolation ends alongside that of the other members of the common family.
