Slovak authorities seal off Roma settlement after a quarter test positive for COVID

Slovak regional authorities have sealed off a Roma settlement in the country's east after tests showed a quarter of people living there were positive for the coronavirus. Sacurov mayor Peter Barat told TA3 that people could go individually to shop for food, while assistants would help them with other services. The number of positive cases had soared from just five in the previous round of testing, he said.

Slovak regional authorities have sealed off a Roma settlement in the country's east after tests showed a quarter of people living there were positive for the coronavirus. The poor settlement of Sacurov near Vranov nad Toplou, consisting of two three-storey apartment blocks and around 70 huts with bare-brick walls and corrugated iron roofs, is to be sealed off for 10 days.

Slovakia, a country of 5.5 million, is struggling to cope with around 5,000 new infections daily and its hospitals have been stretched, despite lockdown measures that limit movement and have closed most retail businesses and schools. The country has a Roma population about 440,000-strong, with many living in settlements on the outskirts of towns, although most declare themselves as Slovaks or Hungarians.

TV footage by TA3 television showed a police car blocking the entry road to the settlement. Sacurov mayor Peter Barat told TA3 that people could go individually to shop for food, while assistants would help them with other services.

The number of positive cases had soared from just five in the previous round of testing, he said. "In a week-and-a-half it grew to the unreal number of 113, due to a failure to maintain quarantine and isolation," he said.

There are about 750 people living in the settlement, Slovak newspaper dennikn.sk reported, and about 400 were tested. Most of the positive cases were among children, it said, with no or light symptoms. Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovic said on Friday that tests showed that over 70% of people who tested positive through PCR tests on Wednesday carried the more infectious UK variant of the virus.