«The government seems to decide on the sole criterion of the interests of large private diagnostic and treatment centres and not the public interest at a time when the pandemic is reaching uncontrollable proportions and the need for continuous testing by citizens becomes imperative,» the Movement for Change said in a statement by the party's Press Office on the decision to increase the cost of molecular tests.
«Unfortunately, the government's current decision does not protect citizens from excessive burdens at a sensitive time for public health,» the Kinal party stresses, adding:
«Yesterday we tabled a proposal to introduce a maximum allowable price of €7 for rapid tests and €40 for PCRs, which on the one hand will ease the cost for citizens who carry out the test at their own expense, and on the other hand will make it viable for private diagnostic centres to carry out the tests, which will be asked to minimise their profit margin.».
The Movement for Change also says that it submitted a specific proposal to increase the number of free checkpoints and extend the opening hours so that citizens can test for free, without inconvenience and overcrowding and how there was no reaction from the government.
He argues that the government took the same stance in its proposal to increase free self-tests to make it easier to diagnose and adhere to appropriate community protection measures.
It calls on it «to finally act seriously and responsibly and come back with a new decision that will take into account the interests of citizens alone», as noted in the party's statement.
