Bratislava is launching a reservation system for testing points on public transport vehicles during the weekend of January 23 and 24, available to help screen people for COVID-19 disease.
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Mayor Matúš Vallo wrote on Facebook that sampling teams will be available on the 33 vehicles administered by the municipality and they should have enough time to test 28,800 people during the weekend.
“We expect that it will be booked up very quickly after the launch of the reservation system,” Vallo wrote on Facebook. “But there is no need for panic because there will be almost 250 sampling teams working in Bratislava during the weekend in places where no reservation is needed, including some drive-through places.”
Some Bratislava boroughs will also launch their own sampling points where it will be possible to make a reservation.
“There will be several testing points for those who are unable to come at the weekend on January 25 and 26,” the mayor noted, adding that the city will publish a detailed plan of the sampling points on Thursday.
Testing on the buses
The Bratislava public transport company will make 50 vehicles available to both the municipality and the boroughs. Testing will take place on buses, trolleybuses and trams, said a spokesperson for the company Ľubica Melcerová.
These sampling points will be open on Saturday and Sunday between 8:00 and 18:00 with a break between 12:00 and 13:00.
How will testing in companies look? The plan has been released Read more“The interior of the vehicle will provide a base for testing teams and the public will undergo testing outside, near the vehicle,” she said, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
Most of the 50 vehicles will be buses. Twelve of them will be in Ružinov and Petržalka, eight will be at Milan Rastislav Štefánik Airport. Two trolleybuses will be at Čiližská and two near Vrakuňa cemetery and two trams will stand next to SND the historic building.
The vehicles will be put in place on Friday night. On Sunday evening, they will return to the depot, where they will be disinfected and prepared for Monday morning.
Testing in Bratislava
The municipality and the boroughs would like to reach people while avoiding long queues and waiting in front of the sampling points.
If a point is occupied, people could choose one of the other points or wait for another day.
Curfew will be prolonged. Negative test result will be required for work or trips to nature (FAQ) Read more“Available capacity during the two days over the weekend should allow for the comfortable performance of more than 250,000 tests,” Vallo said. “It should also be possible to do tens of thousands of further tests after the weekend.”
Read more about coronavirus in Slovakia:
Do I have the new coronavirus? How to proceed if you have a suspicion
I encountered a person who is COVID-19 positive. What do I do next? (FAQ)
When will I get my COVID vaccine? FAQs about vaccination in Slovakia