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The Slovak government has purchased 13 million rapid tests for COVID-19, Prime Minister Igor Matovic said. The army will participate in the organization of large-scale tests.
90% of the Slovak population must undergo free COVID-19 tests at almost the same time, for this purpose the government purchased 13 million rapid tests from three companies. This was announced at a press conference in Bratislava on October 17 by the country’s prime minister, Igor Matovic, writes Aktuality.
Next weekend, a pilot test is planned and the authorities want to test most of the country’s residents from October 31 to November 1.
“For the last three weeks we have been quietly preparing the largest logistics operation,” Matovic admitted. According to him, 40 thousand people will be attracted to organize the tests, including medical personnel, police and the army. The operation will be something like an election campaign, the prime minister said.
Around 6 thousand sampling points have been identified. The government is discussing the age limit, probably children under 10 will be exempt from the procedure.
The test is declared voluntary, but Matovic asks all fellow citizens to participate in it, so that the results are as accurate as possible. If someone tests positive, the whole family will have to go to quarantine.
A week later, the test is planned to be repeated to reveal false negative results.
The government spent about 57 million euros on the purchase of tests and Matovic said that if his idea of mass tests fails, he will resign.
The population of Slovakia is 5.45 million.
On September 30, the start of the second wave of coronavirus contagion in the country was noted. A state of emergency has been declared.
The total number of positive tests in Slovakia since the start of the pandemic is 28,268. There are currently 20,889 active cases of COVID-19, Aktuality writes.
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