Slovakia tests two-thirds of population for COVID-19, 1.06 pct positive

Slovakia has tested two-thirds of its population of 5.4 million people for coronavirus over the weekend (on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1), and 38,359 of them — or 1.06 percent — were found to be positive, Prime Minister Igor Matovic announced here after a government meeting.

“I believe that this is a significant step for all Slovak people in its fight against the coronavirus,” Matovic said at a press conference, quoted by local news portal spectator.sme.sk.

Altogether 3,625,332 aged 10-65 were tested in the nationwide testing. Matovic thanked everybody involved in the testing, including medical staff, soldiers, police officers, firefighters, municipalities and volunteers, said the report.

“It was the first time during this fight against COVID-19 when we joined our forces and put our shoulders to the wheel,”

he said, adding that it will be important that people who tested negative still observe basic hygiene rules and the restrictions currently in place, and those who are positive should remain in isolation.

The testing is free and voluntary, but those who are not able to produce a negative test certificate if stopped by the police could be fined.

Those who test positive are obliged to immediately go into quarantine for ten days. The antigen tests produce results within 30 minutes. All those tested receive the result in a sealed envelope on the spot.

A further round of tests has been scheduled for Nov.7-8, but it is not clear whether that will actually take place.

The Slovak Council of Experts said it did not recommend a second round of testing for the entire country. The council argues that a second testing round should be more targeted at districts where the rate of positive tests in the first round exceeded 15 percent.

• Hungary helps: the government sends hundreds of paramedics to Slovakia

Read alsoHungary precedes Slovakia in GDP per capita for the first time in 10 years

Source: Xinhua