Interest in tests in Prague is growing, but there are still plenty of places
On Friday afternoon, about two thirds of the total three-day capacity of around 45,000 seats were available. However, part of the collection points were not connected by the system at that time. It is also clear that the load on the test centers is not evenly distributed. For some, green symbols of the weakest occupancy are displayed for all three days, for others red squares indicating occupancy.
PICTURE: Trucks inspected the fortress of the Manes Bridge in Prague. He held out
“Currently, we are at our consumption points on an average of 85 to 90 percent capacity. Interest in recent weeks is certainly the biggest since spring and comparable to last autumn’s onslaught. When someone arrives without prior registration and reservation (where possible), we try to serve them, but it is without guarantee, “said Michal Mikšík, spokesman for GHC Genetics, which operates seven collection points in the metropolis, including two without the possibility. reservations (Václav Havel Airport and Wenceslas Square).
According to Mikšík, even a private laboratory just below the capacity ceiling still manages to evaluate most tests within 24 hours, while the legal limit is 48 hours. Test queues are said to be created from time to time, but they are not long, usually up to ten people. At Wenceslas Square, especially at the airport, the demand for subscriptions is declining, which is likely to reflect and re-decrease foreign visitors due to the sharp worsening of the epidemic situation. “Recently, those interested in the test with electronic requests from doctors or hygienists have become more and more prevalent. This is logical, because with the escalation of the epidemic, people with suspected infection who are not having to pay at the same time are being tested. The interest in antigens has dropped to mere units, which are now useful only in tests when visiting homes for the elderly and similar facilities, “Mikšík added, adding that a maximum of three hundred people are tested daily at the airport, compared to the recent six hundred people a day.
GHC Genetics laboratories have recently checked in samples of people who have a doctor’s certificate of contraindications to vaccinations. The positivity rate of all tests is around the national average. “Given its size, our priority is to evaluate samples as quickly as possible so that individuals with positive results can isolate and contribute to further non-spread of the virus,” added a GHC Genetics representative.
More people interested in testing than at the beginning of autumn are now coming to the Bulovka University Hospital. “We have just dealt with a question from the Ministry of Health, which would like to ensure nationwide capacity for 200,000 tests performed per day. The demand for us was six thousand, which is unrealistic given the instrumental, spatial and personnel capacities. In an extreme situation, we are able to guarantee two thousand applications in one day, “Eva Libigerová, a spokeswoman for Bulovka, told the Prague daily. Bulovka operates two vaccination sites next to the test center. “Vaccination queues have far exceeded those for tests since mid-October. Especially at the Central Station, where we vaccinate without prior registration, she informed about five hundred people a day, “Libigerová.
“This concentration in the Main Railway Station and OC Chodov is unfortunate, because there are sixteen places without registration in Prague and they have a total capacity of over four thousand doses per day,” said the regional vaccination coordinator Martin Ježek.