New Delhi (NVI): Slovakia today began a programme to screen all its citizens, above the age of 10, for coronavirus with antigen tests in what would be a global first.
Some 45,000 medical workers, Army and police are being deployed to carry out the tests in the EU member state of 5.4 million people, collecting swabs at around 5,000 testing points, according to media reports.
Results will be given within roughly half an hour of a sample being taken.
People who test positive will have the option of quarantining for 10 days at home or moving into a facility provided by the government.
Those not willing to take the antigen test will have to self-isolate for 10 days or face a €1,650 (£1,485) fine.
Everyone tested will receive a certificate, and police will conduct spot checks to find anyone seeking to avoid the process.
The number of infections has risen steeply since the end of the summer, after the country came through the first wave of the disease in the spring relatively unscathed.
Notably, Slovakia would be the first country of its size to undergo nationwide testing, although mass testing has taken place in entire Chinese cities.
Furthermore, smaller European states such as Luxembourg and Monaco have also announced mass testing programmes.
So far, the country has reported a total of 55,091 cases of coronavirus. The death toll currently stands at 212.
-CHK
