Illustration of antigenic tests carried out on a large scale in Slovakia, from Saturday October 31, 2020. -

PHILIPPE MAGONI / SIPA

Slovakia launched a coronavirus screening program this Saturday among the entire population with antigenic tests.

Some 45,000 medical, military and police professionals have been deployed to carry out the tests in this EU member country of 5.4 million people, to collect samples from around 5,000 open testing points Saturday and Sunday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

“The world will follow” with attention, declared Prime Minister Igor Matovic this week, estimating that this measure would save “hundreds of lives”.

"This will be our path to freedom," insisted Igor Matovic, hinting that the restrictions linked to the pandemic could either be relaxed once the tests are completed or tightened if the program is not fully implemented.

Another round of testing next weekend

Slovakia, which has seen a sharp increase in coronavirus cases [a new record of 3,363 daily infections, bringing the total to 55,091 cases], would be the first country of its size to organize nationwide testing.

So far, widespread testing has taken place in entire Chinese cities.

The government plans to complete national testing in two days and carry out another round of testing next weekend.

But he struggled to find medical staff to operate all testing sites and was forced to offer cash bonuses to doctors.

On Saturday, people lined up since early in the morning to be tested, but in some places the tests did not start on time due to organizational problems, an AFP reporter noted.

Traffic jams formed in front of the locations chosen for a test drive option.

In pilot tests in four high-risk areas last weekend, people had to queue up to two hours.

"The government and the Prime Minister brandish the threat against the people"

The Slovak Association of General Practitioners (SVLS) criticized the government's plan, considering it ill-prepared.

According to the association, "the concentration of millions of people" on screening sites "remains in contradiction with the recommendations of infectious disease experts to reduce public contact and mobility as much as possible".

But some, like Radovan Babincak, a 40-year-old unemployed man living in the capital Bratislava, want to avoid the operation in this way.

And to declare: “The government and the Prime Minister brandish the threat against the people.

Participation in the test is, in fact, not compulsory, but the person without a negative test certificate risks being fined heavily if arrested by the police.

Anyone who tests positive should immediately quarantine for ten days.

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