SUMMARY-Tuesday, February 16, 2021 - 10 p.m.

BRATISLAVA - The epidemiological situation in Slovakia is extraordinarily grave and serious, President Zuzana Caputova warned after her Tuesday meeting with scientists of the government consilium and an initiative called Science Helps. PEZINOK - Prosecutor of the Special Prosecutor"s Office Valeria Simonova on Tuesday filed an appeal against the ruling of the Specialised Criminal Court, which earlier in the day released former Justice Ministry state secretary Monika J. from custody and prolonged custody of ex-judge Richard M. by four months. BRATISLAVA - Slovakia is running a risk of seeing supplies for its industrial parks and production facilities halted, Transport and Construction Minister Andrej Dolezal (We Are Family nominee) warned on Facebook with respect to Germany's epidemiological measures on Tuesday. BRATISLAVA - Slovak Academy of Sciences virologist Boris Klempa stated on Tuesday following a meeting of scientists and President Zuzana Caputova that the South African mutation of novel coronavirus could already be present in Slovakia. BRATISLAVA - Foreign Affairs Ministry State Secretary Ingrid Brockova received on Tuesday new Russian Ambassador to Slovakia Igor Bratchikov, TASR learnt on the same day from the Foreign Affairs Ministry. BRATISLAVA - The situation concerning the pandemic in the country has worsened slightly as the numbers of new daily infection cases and deaths have grown moderately, but the good news is that medical workers who were previously infected with the virus are gradually returning to hospitals, Health Minister Marek Krajci reported on Tuesday, adding that the basic reproduction number of the virus currently exceeds 1. BRATISLAVA - The pandemic committee advised the Government on Tuesday to start holding talks with the Russian producer of the Sputnik V vaccine and procure a sufficient amount of the jab, given the poor pandemic situation in Slovakia and a lack of the vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), Health Minister Marek Krajci (OLaNO) reported on Tuesday. zel