A screening campaign for all Slovaks over 10 years old will be launched, as cases of contamination are on the increase, Prime Minister Igor Matovic announced on Saturday.
The tests will be free, he told reporters, without saying whether they will be compulsory.
"If we manage to do (this test campaign), we can set an example for the whole world," he said.
Read also: In Slovakia, surprise acquittal at the Jan Kuciak trial
A first phase is scheduled for next weekend in certain regions of the country which has 5.4 million inhabitants, the test campaign to be carried out mainly at the end of October and the beginning of November.
The government declared a state of health emergency in early October in the face of increasing deaths and the number of cases of contamination.
This week, new restrictions came into effect: secondary schools switched to distance education, gatherings of more than six people, including religious services, were banned, gyms and swimming pools closed, and restaurants authorized to serve customers only outside.
On Saturday, the Health Ministry reported nearly 2,000 new cases of contamination, bringing the total to 28,000 cases.
The total death toll stands at 82, with eleven new deaths.
On Saturday, some 500 people, many of whom did not wear masks, gathered outside the government building to protest the restrictions.
Some protesters threw stones and bottles at police, who confronted them with water cannon and tear gas, according to videos of the protest.