Czech Gov't Intends To Conduct Mass Testing Of Citizens For COVID Free Of Charge - Babis

PRAGUE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th November, 2020) The Czech Republic intends to follow the suit of Slovakia and conduct nationwide voluntary and free testing of the population for the coronavirus in December, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Tuesday.

In late October, Slovakia announced mass testing of its population for the coronavirus on the weekends. The country has already conducted such testing of citizens over 10 years old three times. The first time, 3.6 million people � over half of the 5.45-million population � took part in nationwide testing from October 31-November 1. Another 2 million people participated from November 7-8. The third mass testing event was held only in settlements where the largest number of positive results was previously recorded. The events were organized by the defense ministry.

"I would be glad if we had time to do this even before Christmas [on December 25]. To allow all citizens at least 10 days or a week before Christmas to test for antigen voluntarily and free of charge," Babis said at a meeting with representatives of the Czech Defense Ministry, who were asked to set up a mass testing plan.

The Czech Republic saw its daily infection rate drop over the past several weeks. On Tuesday 4,377 new cases were registered in the country, while in late October the number of infections per day was over three times higher.

So far, more than 496,600 out of 2.9 million people have tested positive for the coronavirus in the Czech Republic, including about 405,900 recoveries and 7,360 fatalities. There are currently 83,296 active cases.