Austria’s largest COVID-19 testing facility opened its doors at Reed Messe Wien on December 4th, thanks to the support of RX Global and its in-house stand construction company STANDout.

It took the RX Global team just four days to transform Halls A, B and C of the exhibition and congress centre into a mass testing centre, with 170 test stations capable of testing up to 85,000 people per day. Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Mayor of Vienna Michael Ludwig attended on the opening day and were among the first to be tested.

Large-scale mass testing of the public for coronavirus took place in the exhibition centre from December 4th to 13th inclusive. The set-up plan was developed in partnership with the operations staff of Vienna’s professional fire department. 100 power packs and 270 supply points were laid, more than 700 tables and 1,600 chairs were delivered, and numerous partition walls and guidance systems were erected. Coordination was handled with the help of an online registration system.

“We are talking here about a logistical feat to get the entire setup up and running in such a short time. In particular, expert teams from our in-house exhibition stand builder excelled with their concepts and infrastructure delivery. Their services can be used throughout Austria for similar projects. I would like to express my sincere thanks to each and every one of them for their great commitment! Cohesion is more important than ever, especially in times of crisis. That’s why we naturally support the City of Vienna and all the provinces wherever we can,” says Benedikt Binder-Krieglstein, CEO RX Global Austria and Germany.

During the final inspection before the opening of the test station at Reed Messe Wien, City Councillor for Finance Peter Hanke confirmed the great value of the cooperation with RX Global and STANDout: “Challenges like this can only be overcome together. My thanks therefore go to the colleagues of the Vienna Professional Fire Brigade as well as to our partners on site, who have done an incredible job in the last few days to make the Corona tests possible on this scale.”

This is the second time RX Global has rapidly responded to calls of assistance from the municipal authorities in its capacity as manager of the Viennese halls. In March, the company transformed the venue into an 800-bed field hospital, becoming the first outside of China to do so.