Slovakia s national lockdown started on 24 October.

The lockdown will probably end on 15 November, Michaela Paulenova announced on Tuesday, as reported by ujszo.com. The spokeswoman of the interior ministry noted that the central crisis staff had approved the date, but it can be modified according to the developments in the epidemic.

Slovakia imposed a national lockdown on 24 October. This means that people can only leave their homes to go to work, to doctor, to virus testing or to the nearest grocery or pharmacy. They can also walk an animal within 100 metres of their home, and go out if they have to take care of close relatives, take their children to school or go to a post office, a bank, a car mechanic or to buy petrol.

2,887 new coronavirus patients were registered in Slovakia on 27 October, bringing the number of confirmed cases to more than 48 thousand. The country is attempting to launch nationwide testing due to the spread of the virus, with preliminary tests conducted over the weekend in the four most infected northern districts. By the afternoon of Sunday, 25 October, 136,904 of the expected 155,000 people had gone through antigen testing, 5,298 of which came back positive. The proportion of people confirmed as infected is 4 per cent so far.

Nationwide testing will take place over the next two weekends. It is voluntary and paid for by the state. However, those who do not have themselves tested must self-quarantine for 10 days.

Slovakia is the first Western country to attempt nationwide testing. Tests in similar numbers have only been successfully performed in China, but they were limited to certain provinces even there.