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Austria offers Slovakia help with the Corona emergency. Medical personnel from the armed forces are supposed to help in the neighboring country. The Defense Ministry told the APA on Wednesday afternoon that the specific needs and number of soldiers to be deployed are currently being investigated. In Slovakia, the crown’s situation has worsened so dramatically that the country has asked the EU for help. Doctors and nurses are needed.
“It is a requirement of European solidarity to help quickly and without bureaucracy. Therefore, we have already accepted intensive care patients from France, Italy and Montenegro. The armed forces will now support Slovakia with personnel,” announced Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP).
“The Austrian Armed Forces are always there when needed. Whether in Austria or abroad, for our European neighbors and friends. It goes without saying that we support Slovakia in these difficult times,” said Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner (ÖVP).
Master the British variant
Slovakia weathered the first wave of pandemics in spring 2020 more slightly than most other EU countries and only confirmed 28 deaths per corona in autumn. However, since approximately October, the number of confirmed infections and corona deaths have risen so dramatically that experts are warning of an imminent collapse of the healthcare system. Furthermore, the so-called British variant B.1.1.7 of the corona virus now dominates in confirmed corona-positive cases.
By Wednesday, the number of confirmed corona infections since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country with a population of 5.5 million rose to 282,864 based on PCR tests. Health authorities in Bratislava counted 6,168 people as corona deaths as of Wednesday.
According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in Slovakia in 14 days was 496.4. The number of 220.7 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants reported by the ECDC in the same period was already the second highest in the EU after Portugal with 353.5. By more short-term calculations, Slovakia is likely even to have surpassed Portugal.
