PRAGUE (Reuters) – Slovakia reported on Friday its first coronavirus death since the middle of May, bringing its toll to 29, one of the lowest in Europe.
The central European country of 5.5 million has fared better than most in containing the novel virus’s spread, although daily cases have risen since June as the country opened up from lockdowns imposed early in the pandemic.
The country detected 27 new cases on Thursday. The daily rise has mostly been in the low double digits in July after a period of single-digit increases.
In total, 2,292 cases have been found since March. Of those, 1,695 patients have recovered.
The caseload is well below neighbours in Europe, many of which are now seeing an uptick in infections of the COVID-19 disease that the virus causes.
The Czech Republic saw cases surpass 16,000 this week due to local outbreaks in parts of the country that have pushed its daily rise largely past 200. Poland saw a record daily rise for a second straight day on Friday, reporting 657 new cases.
(Reporting by Jason Hovet, editing by Larry King)
