Around 25% of Zagreb residents tested for coronavirus turn out positive

ZAGREB, Nov 23 (Hina) – Of 970 people who have undergone antigen testing for SARS-CoV-2, 248 are positive, which is about 25 percent of the people tested, the results of free rapid antigen testing conducted at 12 sites in Zagreb on Monday show.

“The testing went well. 1,135 people had an appointment, but not all showed up. Among the people tested were about 20 asymptomatic cases that turned out to be positive,” the head of the city department for health care, Vjekoslav Jelec, told the Nova TV commercial broadcaster.

He said that one in three residents of Zagreb tested by a PCR method was coronavirus positive. “That’s why we opted for antigen testing which has far greater coverage when it comes to local transmission of the disease,” he added.

Jelec said that such a large number of positive cases had been expected considering the experience with classic PCR tests in the past 47 weeks of the pandemic. He said that the intention was to identify those infected and put them under control.

Jelec said that the city administration had spent about HRK 3 million (€400,000) on the purchase of about 60,000 tests, and that it was ready to buy another 50,000 tests, citing public health as a priority.