Residents of 45 districts to be tested from 08:00 to 20:00 this weekend, place of residence is not decisive

The second round of the country-wide testing is set to take place in 45 districts across Slovakia on the weekend of 7-8 November 2020. It is aimed at people aged 10 and over who live in the districts where positivity rates of 0.7% and above were reported last weekend and at people who need to visit the districts on 9-14 November 2020, with exemptions set out by the government decree.

Currently, over 2,000 members of the Slovak Armed Forces have been involved in preparing the next phase of Op Shared Responsibility. Operation Command has been working online on security and epidemiological grounds. As at 10:00 today, a total of 2,805 testing sites and 2,715 testing teams are planned for Saturday.

The exact number of testing locations is published at Som zodpovedny. The Slovak Armed Forces will be testing people with almost identical testing teams and in the same places as on the previous weekend. Testing sites will be open to the public from 08:00 to 20:00. For this reason, the MOD urges people not to wait in queues on Saturday morning ahead of the opening hours, but follow the local developments and come for testing during the day. We appreciate your patience and cooperation.

The MOD emphatically urges people to keep the COVID-19 test certificates safe. If damaged or lost, no copies of the certificates will be issued. As to the curfew in place, please, see the latest Government decree available at Rokovania.

Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: “I believe that all parties involved – organisers, members of the testing teams, the public and local authorities – will be united and pull together in one direction in this coming round of testing. The future of Slovakia is our shared responsibility and we should act accordingly. For this reason, I highly appreciate the cooperation with all elements and, in particular, local authorities. It is great to feel that we are in the same boat and that we have a common goal. An uneasy one, yet still greatly important.” The Minister thanked the donors for their “generous aid in this state of emergency, which is an expression of solidarity and humaneness. They are great and they are helping us a lot.”

As well as opening the planned testing locations in 45 districts across Slovakia, Minister Naď announced that, as requested by local authorities, additional testing sites will be operated in the districts adjacent to the “red” high risk districts. Towards this end, the State will provide the testing sites with antigen tests, COVID-19 test certificates and documentation. And so will with military personnel and police officers. Additional support staff and personal protective equipment (PPE) will be ensured by local authorities, provided they are requested over and above the approved plan.

Businesses with 4,000 employees are allowed to carry out their own in-house testing, and so are groups of companies with 4,000 employees based in one complex. This option will be used by 10 companies.