Coronavirus: Slovakia relaxes restrictions and announces the success of its mass testing campaign – Coronavirus

Slovakia will reopen theaters, cinemas and churches at half capacity starting Monday, and fitness rooms and swimming pools will be able to operate with a limited number of visitors, as part of the effort to ease restrictions to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Prime Minister Igor Matovic announced.

The games of the hockey and football leagues will also resume without spectators, Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovic reported on Facebook on Friday, Agerpres quotes.

Slovakia, with 5.5 million inhabitants, is one of the first countries to relax restrictions to counter the second wave of new coronavirus infections in Europe.

Along with strict restrictions, the government tried to keep the pandemic under control with the help of a massive testing campaign, the result of which is considered a success, according to officials.

Matovic noted that large-scale tests, using antigen tests, which provide faster results but with less precision than standard PCR tests, have helped reduce the proportion of infections by more than half.

Slovakia reported a total of 83,796 coronavirus cases detected by standard tests since the start of the pandemic, including 2,024 new cases reported on Thursday, close to the seven-day average. The number of infections has dropped considerably from the daily record of more than 3,000 recorded at the end of October.

A total of 491 people died from Covid-19, a small balance compared to those in other Western European countries and almost 12 times less than in neighboring Czech Republic, where the highest rates were reported. infection and deaths per capita in Europe in recent weeks.