Poland’s health ministry has announced that it will make free COVID-19 tests available to people without the need for a doctor’s consultation. Instead, an online form is used to verify the risk of infection and schedule a test.
Speaking on Monday, the health minister, Adam Niedzielski, said that the government wanted test availability to be “as high as possible” now that cases are rising rapidly as Poland experiences a third wave of the virus.
Poland has until now conducted relatively few COVID-19 tests. Among all EU countries, it has the second lowest testing rate in relation to population, with only Bulgaria lower.
The new online form includes a number of questions designed to gauge the likelihood that someone has contracted the virus. It asks whether they have had contact with someone infected, about their symptoms (such as cough, fever and shortness of breath), as well as any chronic diseases.
If the questionnaire deems there is a likelihood of infection, a consultant will call – between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays and weekends – to verify the identity of the applicant and issue a referral for a test.
Applicants then receive a text message with a proposed time and location for the test so as to avoid waiting in a queue at a testing place. The results of the test are then published through the official online health portal.
In the case of a positive result, the government also encourages those aged over 55 to use a pulse oximeter, which monitors oxygen saturation of the blood. Younger people can also submit a request for such a device.
Minister @a_niedzielski w #KPRM: Umożliwiamy nową ścieżkę testowania. Samodzielnie będzie można zgłosić się na test przez formularz na stronie https://t.co/2R3nfHRPzZ. Chcemy, żeby w tej sytuacji rozwoju 3. fali dostępność do testowania była powszechna.
— Kancelaria Premiera (@PremierRP) March 15, 2021
Some users of the next system have, however, noted that the questionnaire often assesses the risk of infection as low (and therefore does not prescribe a test) even when they describe situations that have ultimately resulted in them having the virus.
For example, if the respondent declares to have not “been in close proximity (face to face) with a person infected with SARS-CoV-2, less than two metres away for more than 15 minutes” and not in “direct physical contact with someone infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus”, the system reportedly automatically yields a negative result.
Zaznaczyłem:
-bezpośredni kontakt z zakażonym
-15 minut twarzą w twarz z zakażonym
-kaszel
-gorączka
-dusznościOdpowiedź: zagrożenie zakażenia wirusem SARS-CoV-2 jest NISKIE, dlatego nie zostałeś skierowany na test.
Aha, spoko. W takim razie idę do pracy. https://t.co/G8dPf51EkY
— Adam Ozga (@aozga) March 15, 2021
Poland’s seven-day rolling average of daily new cases has now risen above 16,000 for the first time since the second wave in November. On Thursday and Saturday last week, daily infection numbers rose above 20,000.
As of today, the number of people hospitalised with COVID-19 has reached 21,183, which is approaching the peak of around 23,000 recorded in November. Last week, Poland’s National Health Fund (NFZ), which finances the public health system, recommended that planned medical procedures be suspended to make space for COVID-19 patients.
The British strain of the coronavirus, which is between 40 and 70% more infectious as well as 62% more deadly, has been spreading, and is now believed to account for more than 40% of all new infections in Poland.
Main image credit: Governor Tom Wolf/Flickr (under CC BY 2.0)
Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She is a regular writer for The Times, The Economist and Al Jazeera English, and has also featured in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.
