The Slovakian government declared a full-scale lockdown amidst rising coronavirus cases on Wednesday.
Economy Minister Richard Sulik said that the lockdown will last for two weeks and apply to both the vaccinated and unvaccinated, the TASR news agency reported. Restaurants and shops deemed nonessential will be closed.
Slovakia has seen the highest rise in coronavirus cases in the world in recent weeks. 10,000 new cases were recorded on Tuesday, the highest daily total in Slovakia since the pandemic began.
President Zuzana Caputova said on Tuesday that Slovakia was losing its fight against the coronavirus and that a lockdown was the only option as healthcare workers became overwhelmed by the number of coronavirus cases.
Under 50% of Slovakia's population has been vaccinated against the coronavirus, one of the lowest rates in Europe.
Earlier this week, Austria implemented a 10-day lockdown in response to rising coronavirus cases,
On Friday, Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg announced that starting Monday, Austria will be under strict lockdown, expanding the lockdown on the unvaccinated to include all Austrians, regardless of vaccination status.
Schallenberg also announced that the country will make vaccines mandatory starting on February 1st.