Austria launched national screening for the coronavirus on its territory on Friday and mobilized the army for the occasion.

But this operation is criticized by the opposition on several points, in particular its cost, estimated at 67 million euros.

REPORTAGE

Austria launched a very large campaign of massive Covid-19 testing on Friday.

The army has been requisitioned to carry out the operation across the country.

In Vienna, the largest concert hall in the capital was thus transformed on Friday into a huge test center.

Between 300 and 400 soldiers are mobilized to test "60,000 people in one day" announces at the microphone of Europe 1 this officer of the Austrian army who manages the largest screening center in the capital.

And despite the large number of Austrians coming to be tested, the military expected such an influx.

And for good reason, it was necessary to register in advance on the Internet. 

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A precise organization ...

"I registered on Wednesday and the next day at noon I had a confirmation," confirms this retiree.

Each Austrian receives an FFP2 mask during his antigen test and then waits a few minutes for the result.

And the organization does not stop there: "all negative people start from one side and the positives are sent in another direction where they pass a PCR test", explains for his part Commander Wagner. 

Relieved, this lady is negative and can therefore return home "quietly" after a "bearable and even necessary effort". 

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... but criticized by the opposition

This large-scale operation is nevertheless criticized by the government opposition.

It must be said that the conservative chancellor Sebastian Kurz had announced in mid-November, to everyone's surprise, the launch of these operations across the whole country to avoid an outbreak of contaminations at the end of the confinement, while schools and stores reopen Monday.

In total, ten million tests have been ordered for a population of 8.8 million inhabitants and Peter Hacker, Social Democratic City Health Assistant, does not hide his skepticism about the government's management of the pandemic.

"There is too much propaganda lately. Week after week, we are told of measures without prior discussion," he ruled Friday, advocating targeted tests in retirement homes, hospitals or nurseries.

A cost of 67 million euros 

The cost of the operation, estimated at 67 million euros, is also widely criticized by the opposition.

Not to mention the computer setbacks: the platform for registering for the tests suffered a computer attack and hundreds of personal data were disclosed.

The city of Linz, in Upper Austria, in the north, has even decided to abandon the system set up at the federal level to launch its own.

In the centers, problems were also recorded and like any good soldier, Stefan Lampl's men had provided themselves with pencils and notebooks just in case.

Relatively untouched by the first wave, Austria saw the number of cases explode in the fall, but the drastic restrictions imposed in recent weeks seem to be bearing fruit, with 3,815 infections announced on Friday over the last 24 hours, against 4,954 the day before .

A figure still "far too high", however declared the Minister of Health, Rudolf Anschober, hoping to lower it to a thousand "over the next two weeks".