Expert Consilium Doesn't Recommend 2nd Round of Countrywide Testing

Bratislava, November 2 (TASR) – The expert consilium doesn’t recommend a second round of countrywide testing in Slovakia, but antigen testing is recommended in districts where the highest rates of positive results were detected in the first round, i.e. 1.5 percent and higher, TASR learnt on Monday.

As an alternative, it recommends targeted testing for outbreaks and testing of high-risk groups in terms of the possible spread of the disease. These are, in particular, patients being admitted into hospital, health-care professionals, old people’s homes and centres for children and families. Other groups include homeless people, members of the armed forces, prisoners, residents of resocialisation facilities, members of the Police Corps, employees of Interior Ministry institutions, asylum seekers, people with international protection and other groups of migrants.

The consilium also recommends testing people who have come into close contact with those tested positive in the first round of testing. They also propose testing people coming to Slovakia from abroad and recommend reducing the number of border crossings.
Testing is also recommended for employees of strategic companies that are key for the economy, such as in the spheres of energy, food, agriculture, state and public administration.

“In order to carry out the measures we propose, we recommend setting up mobile sampling teams,” reads the consilium’s statement.