MOD calls on people coming from other regions to get tested in Orava and Bardejov to wait until next weekend

In response to the public’s increased interest in getting tested for coronavirus and given the number of tests distributed, the SVK MOD calls on people coming from other regions to get tested in Orava and Bardejov district to wait until next weekend.

Defence Minister J. Naď said: “I must say that we are very much satisfied with overall turnout and with how testing is being organised and conducted. First of all, I very much want to thank our citizens for coming to get tested and I call on people from other places than Orava and Bardejov to come for testing next weekend. This is because it occurred that, for example, there was a village with 200 residents where 400 tests were performed.” The Minister pointed out that a surge in demand for testing by people coming from other places has caused long queues.

Reflecting on Day 1 of trial testing, the head of the MOD named the shortage of medical staff as the biggest problem. Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: “Yesterday, 8% of the medical personnel on sites tested positive for coronavirus. Today, everything is going very smoothly, all of the planned 182 testing sites are open and operating continuously. Some have been divided into two, while others, having tested the entire community, have closed by now and staff have been transferred to other sites to strengthen their teams and make the testing process smooth. Overall, we have more than 2,000 personnel deployed to the testing sites.”

Today, 2,003 people are part of the testing teams and staff supporting Op Shared Responsibility. Nearly half of them are regular soldiers, policemen, firefighters, healthcare workers, and employees of local self-governing bodies. Compared to Friday, more aids, 277 volunteers to be exact, have turned up to help today.