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Read, Debate: Engage.
| topic: | Health and Sanitation |
|---|---|
| located: | Slovenia |
| editor: | Katarina Panić |
Health experts in Slovenia expressed their worries about a newly discovered trend in the small central European country on the foothills of the Alps. It seems that people intentionally become infected by the coronavirus in order to travel more easily afterwards since, administratively, being recovered from COVID-19 is equal to being vaccinated.
"Currently, the behaviour is quite dangerous. Some people want to get infected in any way, just to benefit from a certificate of illness. That is a very dangerous practice," epidemiologist Mateja Logar, the head of the advisory group of the Ministry of Health, stated at the government's press conference in the capital Ljubljana last Monday.
Those who have recovered from COVID-19 enjoy the same benefits as the people who were vaccinated. The advisory group is thinking of excluding the convalescents from the advantages they currently enjoy.
"We are noticing a trend of increasing the number of those who want to get infected as soon as possible in order to get a certificate that will enable them to cross borders," Logar said.
Yet, changing the rules wouldn’t be on the table before the vaccine is sufficient for the majority of the population. So far, Slovenia is above the European average in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, and it is expects that many more vaccines will become available next month. The aim is to vaccinate as many people as possible by the summer holidays.
Tomaž Vovko, a specialist in infectology and intensive care medicine, said that patients who recover from COVID-19 are severely affected by the disease, and considerable efforts are required for them to return to their everyday lives. A severe course of the disease occurs more frequently with younger patients. Many unknowns remain about the disease and no one is aware of its long-term consequences.
"The disease is unpredictable. We don't yet know what it all causes in the long run. It is essential, much safer to prevent disease than to get over it. However, those infected can also transmit the infection, for example, to parents," Vovko warned.
After the expiration of the 11-day Easter lockdown, less strict measures are in force beginning this week. The government is, as is stated, moderately optimistic that the exponential growth of infections in Slovenia had stopped.
Image: Hospital CLÍNIC.
