Slovakia: mass testing and quarantine campaign halves infection rate, says Prime Minister Igor Matovic – Coronavirus



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Slovakia’s test and quarantine campaign over the past two weekends has helped cut the rate of new coronavirus infections by more than half, Prime Minister Igor Matovic said in a press conference on Monday, Agerpres reported on Reuters. .

Of the 5.5 million inhabitants, Slovakia tested 3.6 million, except for young children and the elderly, in the first weekend of November, while those with positive results were quarantined.

At the end of last week, the test was repeated for just over 2 million people in the worst affected areas, with a much lower infection rate due to previous quarantine measures.

The campaign in Slovakia has been closely followed by other countries struggling with a resurgence of SARS-CoV-2 contamination cases.

Taking into account the districts where the tests were performed in both weeks, the infection rate dropped from 1.47% in the first weekend to 0.62% among those tested in the second weekend, Matovic told the conference print.

If we take into account some additional tests performed in law enforcement, nursing homes and companies, the second round produced 13,509 positive cases.

“We are entering a difficult winter. We have an extremely effective antigen testing tool that reduces the percentage of people infected by 58%,” the head of government said.

The test was free and voluntary, but the government imposed a quarantine, which included a ban on the shuttle on those who refused to take the test.

People must have certificates from them that show they have taken the test and tested negative.

The campaign was based on antigen tests whose results are known within 15-30 minutes, but with lower accuracy than standard PCR tests.

The government has said that the antigen test is worth taking and that repeating it reduces the likelihood of false negative results.

To date, Slovakia has reported 76,072 cases of infection – including 366 deaths – detected by PCR tests. The antigen test, which included a pilot phase and two mass testing cycles, identified 57,462 cases.

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