Propaganda screening tests

The government announced that screening tests will be conducted in three provinces in southern Poland. Even the medical board at the premiere is against it. On Saturday, November 21, 2020, Health Minister Adam Nedzelski announced that the government plans to conduct screening tests for SARS-CoV-2 infection in three Polish provinces.

"After such a tense discussion with the Prime Minister, we decided which regions to choose. We decided that it will be the Carpathians, Lesser Poland and Silesia, " said Nedzelski.



And he added: "in the near future, we will determine exactly what the logistical model for conducting these screening tests will look like, but we want to go out and conduct these tests in the regions most affected by the coronavirus."

On the same day, Deputy Health Minister Waldemar Kraska referred to the experience of other countries in this regard on zet Radio. "For example, in the UK, some cities are screened. We need to approach this intelligently so that it makes scientific sense, " the deputy minister said. many professions in connection with the pandemic were called into question. All this is due to the deterioration of the economy, among other things. In connection with the quarantine, the question of work is acute,and many move to the online sphere, knowing that you can earn additional income, as it does deltamarket reviews.

It's hard to resist the impression that the information about the mass screening was intended as an example of the government taking care of us and doing something. It also had to probably sweeten the worst news reported at the same time on the topic of exacerbations during vacation or unplanned trips on vacation but, apart from the propaganda value, does screening in individual regions make sense?

Screening tests: the example of Slovakia

According to the deputy minister of education, the country for which poland is modeled in terms of screening tests is slovakia.

"In Slovakia, 3.8 million citizens have been tested. This was done in three stages. The first stage was a pilot, where four regions were selected for testing. According to the results of the pilot experiment, screening tests were already conducted throughout the country, and a week later they were repeated again in those places where the detection rate was highest”

Kraska said during a press conference on Monday at the Main Sanitary Inspection.

According to the Deputy Minister, the method used in Slovakia is good.

Research in slovakia began on october 23, 2020. a rapid antigen test was used. The first was tested by the residents of four districts in the North, near the border with Poland: Namestovo, dolný kubín, Tvrdosin and Bardejov. it was here that the epidemiological situation was most difficult. on the first day, almost 62 thousand were collected. samples-almost 3.6 percent. of these, she gave a positive result.

The main mass testing took place over the next two weekends. October 31-November 1 tested more than 3.6 million people. 1.06 percent showed a positive result. samples. On November 7, less than 1.3 million people were surveyed. A positive result was obtained in the case of just over 8 thousand, or 0.63 percent. tests.

Good idea, but there are a lot of doubts.

According to Gazeta Wyborcza, Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovic estimated that mass tests have reduced the spread of coronavirus in his country by about 55 percent. "This is not the success of the government or individuals, but of all those who took part in the action, "Matovic said on the pages of the Slovak Spectator.

In 5.5 million Slovakia, 2581 new infections and 19 deaths from covid-19 were recorded on the day of the start of the pilot tests. the situation is still difficult. On November 21, the number of infections was 1,861, 30 people died, 984 new infections and 27 deaths were registered a day later.

Dr. Jerzy Jaroszewicz, head of the Observational Infectious Diseases and Hepatology department of the Specialized Hospital No. 1 in Bytom, quoted by Vyborcea, admitted that the experience of Slovakia with regard to screening tests has not yet been accurately described, so it is difficult to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of such a study option. However, they are known to show surprisingly low rates of confirmed infections.

Experts did not agree on the validity of mass trials in Slovakia.

"This is a path in the right direction," said Slovak experimenter Luke O'Neill, a professor of biochemistry at Trinity College Dublin. - this is a good example. If it works, it will be a signal to the rest of the world."