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PRAGUE: Slovakia on Friday lifted a state of emergency in force since October to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, but Prime Minister Eduard Heger urged citizens to remain watchful and said vaccination was key to keeping the virus in check.
The country of 5.5 million has reported a steady decline in daily new cases from the peaks of the third wave hit in early March, and hospitalisations have also fallen.
"We promised that the state of emergency would not last a minute longer than necessary," Heger told a news conference broadcast live on television.
"The pandemic is still continuing and an exceptional situation still prevails. I want to ask all of us to remain responsible."
The lifting of the state of emergency, which takes effect at midnight, will mean the end of a 9:00 p.m. curfew and of national restrictions on social gatherings.
This week the government also approved an overhaul of anti-epidemic restrictions which will not be implemented across the country, but on a regional basis, effective Monday, allowing for each of Slovakia's 79 counties to have measures appropriate to local conditions.
In the four counties with the lowest COVID-19 rates, people will be allowed inside restaurants as of Monday, while in the two hardest hit, most restrictions will remain in place.
