BRATISLAVA (BLOOMBERG) – Slovakia’s ruling parties took a step closer to imposing a stricter pandemic lockdown, which the country’s prime minister said may be needed to contain one of the world’s worst outbreaks of Covid-19.

Premier Eduard Heger said he’s “intensely” considering mirroring steps taken in neighbouring Austria, which imposed a nationwide lockdown.

The three-party coalition late on Monday (Nov 22) agreed in principle to tighten the restrictions, but needs to finalise the details of the new regime, the SITA news service reported on Tuesday.

With the European Union’s third-lowest vaccination rate, 46.8 per cent, Slovakia has already tightened curbs against those who have refused inoculation by barring them from restaurants, shopping malls and other venues.

Coalition leaders discussed imposing a three-week lockdown, with the second largest faction opposing the plan.

The leader of the center-right Freedom and Solidarity Party, Richard Sulik, told TA3 television that the country should leave looser rules for vaccinated people and wait to see whether the measures now in place will have some effect.

But SITA cited a lawmaker from the party, Jana Bitto Ciganikova, as saying the coalition had found a consensus but won’t disclose details until the final agreement is reached.

“We have to complete it and approve it at the cabinet on Wednesday,” she told SITA. “The agreement seems quite reasonable to me, if it works out.”

The nation of 5.5 million has one of the highest numbers of fresh coronavirus cases per capita in the world and is struggling to avoid the collapse of its medical system as hospitals run out of intensive care units.

The ruling coalition’s conflicting messaging over its coronavirus strategy is deepening distrust in institutions.

Meanwhile, fierce opposition to social-distancing measures by former Premier Robert Fico, who was ousted after widespread anti-graft protests in 2018, is boosting his popularity in opinion polls.

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