Weekend testing at PSA Groupe in Trnava (source: TASR)
When the nationwide testing was first announced in Slovakia, with the condition that all those who test positive will have to remain isolated at home, some companies worried about what would happen if they suddenly lacked key workers.
By Monday it was clear these concerns had not materialised. Altogether 3,625,332 people were tested in the first round of the nationwide testing around the country on October 31 and November 1, of which 38,359 or 1.06 percent tested positive. Companies indicated that they could cope with vacancies of up to 10 percent of their workforce.
“We do not register any significant outage of the labour force in any sector of the Slovak economy and the operation of companies is more or less fluid,” Miriam Filová, spokesperson of the Federation of Employers’ Associations (AZZZ) told The Slovak Spectator.
The Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SOPK) and the association of the biggest employers, Klub 500, call on the government to allow life in the country return to normal given that all preventive measures are maintained and strict anti-pandemic measures focus on places with a high occurrence of the novel coronavirus.
“As the results of the nationwide testing are relatively favourable, we see no reason to keep schools, restaurants and hotels closed or other services limited,” SOPK and Klub 500 write the Igor MatoviÄŤ cabinet. They are calling on the cabinet to sit down with representatives of employers, municipalities and trade unions to discuss the results and next steps.
