BRATISLAVA, Slovakia: Slovakia is planning new restrictions on unvaccinated people in an effort to tame the latest surge of coronavirus infections that has caused a “critical” situation in the country’s hospitals, the prime minister said Tuesday.
Prime Minister Eduard Heger said his government will vote Thursday on the latest proposals by an advisory group of medical experts that will be effective for three weeks. Among the proposed measures, people who have not been vaccinated will be banned from all non-essential stores, shopping malls, gyms, pools and hotels. They also won’t be allowed to attend any mass public gatherings like sports events.
“The situation in hospitals is critical,” Heger said, adding that some hospitals are already at their limit for COVID-19 patients in their intensive care units and have been transferring new patients to other facilities.
Unvaccinated people will be able to get into their workplaces with negative virus tests.
If the situation doesn’t get any better in the next three weeks, the government is ready to impose even more restrictions, the prime minister said. He urged unvaccinated Slovaks to get their vaccine shots.
The number of COVID-10 patients needing hospital treatment rose to a total of 2,826, with 225 admitted on Monday alone, the Health Ministry said. Over 81 percent of the hospitalized have not been fully vaccinated.
Slovakia, one of the hardest-hit European Union countries, has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the 27-nation bloc. Only about 45 percent of its nearly 5.5 million have been fully vaccinated.
In the latest surge, new coronavirus infections in Slovakia hit a record daily high of 7,244 cases on Friday.
Slovakia to restrict the unvaccinated to tame COVID surge
https://arab.news/7jz44
Slovakia to restrict the unvaccinated to tame COVID surge
- Among the proposed measures, people who have not been vaccinated will be banned from all non-essential stores
- Unvaccinated people will be able to get into their workplaces with negative virus tests
Philippine city in state of calamity as landfill collapse death toll rises
- 16 people remain missing under piles of waste nearly a week after the incident
- On Monday, the city’s mayor said ‘signs of life’ were still detected under debris
MANILA: Cebu City in the central Philippines has been in a state of calamity since last week’s collapse of a landfill that left at least 20 people dead, authorities said on Wednesday.
A huge mound of garbage at the 15-hectare Binaliw open landfill in Cebu City collapsed suddenly on Jan. 8, burying more than 100 workers and nearby structures underneath.
To release additional funds for emergency response and recovery operations, the Cebu City Council approved on Tuesday a resolution declaring a state of calamity.
After managing to save 18 injured people in the first days of the search, rescuers pulled out the bodies of several victims on Wednesday.
“The number of employees reported missing following the Binaliw landfill incident that occurred on the afternoon of January 8, 2026, has decreased to 16,” the Cebu City Public Information Office stated.
“The reduction in the number of missing individuals follows the recovery of several bodies at the site today, January 14, 2026. With these recoveries, the confirmed death toll has now risen to 20.”
The Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office said that with the amount of debris, its responders were facing “difficult site conditions,” but remained on the ground to recover all the missing persons.
The hope of finding survivors was reignited by the announcement of Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival, who said in a press conference on Monday that a team from APEX Mining in Davao brought life-detection equipment that indicated that “there are still signs of life” at the disaster site.
The Cebu City Council announced Friday as a day of mourning for the victims of the Binaliw landslide, which “claimed lives and caused immeasurable grief to the affected families and the community.”
