TALLINN, May 10 (LETA--BNS) – The Voru County Development Center proposed to the government to test nearly 200 Latvian employees working in Estonia free of charge, as there is no possibility of paid testing in the county and it would cost approximately 60,000 euros per month.

By an order of April 30, the government approved a new border crossing procedure for those crossing the Estonian-Latvian at least twice a week for work or study. According to the order, the person crossing the border must get tested for SARS-CoV-2 every seven days.

As of April 7, there are a total of 204 employees working in Voru County who cross the Estonian-Latvian state border on a daily basis. According to SYNLAB's price list, testing once a week would cost 59,160 euros per month, and there is currently no possibility to get tested for coronavirus for a fee in Voru County.

For example, Saru Lauatehas employs 112 Latvian citizens. There, the total cost for the company would be 25,984 euros per month. Assuming that the test would have to be performed in the city of Voru, getting tested takes up a considerable part of the employees' work time, as the distance from the workplace to the testing point is up to 50 kilometers.

Therefore, the development center proposed to allow Estonian-Latvian border crossers to be tested free of charge once a week for work and study at the Vastse-Roosa border checkpoint from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and once a week in Voru from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Such an approach would be the best option for both employers and employees. This would make it possible to perform the test at times suitable for shift work, according to the Voru County Development Center.