Diagnostic tests: Greece tops EU list
Greece leads the pack in the European Union when it comes to Covid testing, according to a statement by the Health Ministry Friday, citing the latest data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
“Rapid tests and PCR tests (in Greece) are performed daily, for free – and therefore without the need for a prescription – by the mobile units of EODY [National Public Health Organization], as well as at national health system facilities. At the same time, free self-tests are also available,” the statement said.
More specifically, EODY performed 8,759,556 diagnostic tests (7,642,167 rapid and 1,112,389 polymerase chain reaction, or PCR) free of charge from May 1, 2020 to December 30, 2021.
These do not include the millions of diagnostic tests performed at public hospitals and other such facilities.
In 2021, from April to the end of the year, 86,403,820 self tests were given free of charge to 7,669,956 citizens.
One in five cases, meanwhile, was detected thanks to self-tests (247,464 out of a total of 1,170,293). The ministry added that the amount of money allocated so far for free tests (self, rapid and PCR) exceeds 300 million euros.
