Slovak Romani settlement quarantined after resident returns from England

News server Deník N reports that in the town of Gelnica in Slovakia’s Košice Region, the Romani settlement of Háj is now under quarantine because a resident returned from England and failed to self-isolate. “We are in communication with people from the settlement,” Mayor Dušan Tomaško told the news server.

“If anybody breaks the 14-day compulsory quarantine, we will report it to the state police,” the mayor said. “We do not have the authority to arrest anybody.”

According to the mayor, the man concerned has not tested positively for COVID-19 and has no symptoms. About 80 people live in the settlement.

The town hall is securing supplies of drinking water and groceries for the settlement residents. MEP Peter Pollák, the former Slovak Government Plenipotentiary for Romani Communities who is now a member of the Central Crisis Team, said it would be best to place all of the inhabitants of the settlement who had come into contact with the man into a quarantine facility.

According to the town’s press spokesperson, Milo Janáč, Háj is now marked off by a perimeter of tape which nobody is allowed to cross. “We are communicating with the Central Crisis Team and the Interior Ministry also offered us aid,” he said, adding that the best solution would be to relocate the inhabitants of the settlement into state-run quarantine facilities because it will be problematic to mind the settlement at night.