In Slovakia, 12 Roma communities are currently quarantined in connection with the coronavirus pandemic. This was confirmed by Andrea Bučková, the representative of the Government of the Slovak Republic for the Roma community. The ombudsman Maria Pataky does not like that.
"The current numbers of quarantined communities indicate that we are still struggling with the approach of introducing area-based community quarantines," Bučková said.
The Office is based on data from regular monitoring carried out at the level of selected municipalities. "As of March 23, 2021, the Office of the Government Plenipotentiary registers, on the basis of this monitoring, a total of 45 places / municipalities where either the entire Roma settlement or part of the community has been quarantined since December 2020," she specified.
The closure of marginalized Roma communities due to quarantine has recently been criticized by Ombudsman Marie Patakyová. At the same time, she asked Prosecutor General Maroš Žilink to review the legality of decrees of regional public health authorities (RÚVZ) in this matter and, if necessary, to turn to the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic.
According to her, ordering such quarantine is selective and so far only applies to areas with marginalized communities. At that time, the Public Health Office of the Slovak Republic reacted that regional authorities do not approach the closure of sites automatically.
