Democracy Digest: Pandemic Heralds a More Conservative Slovakia

"The number of infected people in Slovakia has decreased significantly, so we can afford this step," Prime Minister Igor Matovic told a news conference on Monday.

With only 28 fatalities, Slovakia has the lowest per-capita coronavirus death rate in Europe. Total infections stand at just over 1,500, with 257 active cases as of Thursday.

Slovakia has gradually eased a fiercely criticised quarantine of five segregated Roma settlements in the eastern part of the country. It has also begun mass testing in care homes for the elderly.

In the midst of the economic, public health and social crisis, Slovak science celebrated a victory last week when a team of local scientists got certification for an original COVID-19 test kit they had developed. Health officials will get the first 100,000 tests free.

"If we want to get back to normal life, we have to be able to catch the potential new hotspots of infection, where testing will be key," said Robert Mistrik, a scientist and a member of the Slovak crisis staff.

The so-called PCR tests were developed by Pavol Cekan, a scientist at the MultiplexDX company, in cooperation with other Slovak biotech companies and scientists at Comenius University and the Slovak Academy of Sciences.

In recent weeks, the government has faced criticism for making state quarantine compulsory for all Slovaks returning to the country. The public were appalled by images of overcrowded accommodation, and Slovak ombudswoman Maria Patakyova said the enforced quarantine could violate human rights.

Another blow to the government came from the Constitutional Court, which stopped a coronavirus law allowing the government to collect phone data for contact-tracing technology. The court argued the law was too vague and did...