MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Sunday, November 22, 2020 - 9.00 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Saturday, November 21): NEW POSITIVE PCR TESTS FOR CORONAVIRUS: 1,861 Positive PCR tests in total: 95,257 DAILY PCR TESTS: 10,554 Tests in total: 1,010,338 NEW DEATHS: 30 Deaths in total: 644 PUCHOV - Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad (OLaNO) reported in Puchov (Trencin region) on Saturday that 31,548 people joined the fourth round of mass testing for novel coronavirus as of Saturday at 12 noon, with 602 of them being tested positive, which is an average of 1.91 percent. The largest number of people tested positive was under the Hlohovec (Trnava region) and Zvolen headquarters. The minister further stated that they record approximately one third of people interested in testing compared to two weeks ago. The testing on Saturday is ensured by a total of 4,876 people. Nad said that it is peaceful. "People are gradually coming, no queues are being made. We aren't seeing a situation that people from other districts would be coming in a large scale. Despite the fact that we saw during preparations this week some fears or a certain rate of lesser cooperation, we eventually launched testing in every town and municipality where we planned it," said the minister. BRATISLAVA - MPs will probably elect a candidate for the post of prosecutor-general later than on Wednesday, November 25, head of the parliamentary constitutional committee Milan Vetrak (OLaNO) told TASR, adding that he anticipates the vote to take place on Thursday (November 26). BRATISLAVA - Experts should decide whether the next rounds of countrywide testing should be carried out, or what form they should have, Vice-premier and Investments, Regional Development and Informatisation Minister, and For the People party chairwoman Veronika Remisova stated on RTVS's talk show 'Sobotne dialogy' (Saturday Dialogues), believing that the voice of experts will also decide at the meeting of the central crisis management team on Monday (November 23). "On behalf of For the People party, I'm sending there the head of our medical team and I want us to follow experts' recommendations," she said in the discussion. Remisova's opponent on the show, Smer-SD vice-chairman Juraj Blanar, asks about the sense of countrywide testing. "Experts themselves point out that antigen tests aren't suitable for mass testing or for such use in the winter," he said. He also criticised the fact that the state is set to procure 16 million antigen tests although "the suspicions from the first tender haven't yet been explained. LEVI - Slovak skier Petra Vlhova triumphed in the opening slalom of the World Cup's new season at Levi, Finland, edging out her great American rival Mikaela Shiffrin by 0.18 seconds, TASR learnt on Saturday. Austria's Katharina Liensberger ended up third finishing 0.57 seconds behind Vlhova. am