STA, 20 October 2020 - The number of new coronavirus infections continues to rise in Slovenia, reaching 794 on Monday, when 4,326 tests were conducted. Currently, 313 Covid-19 patients are in hospital, including 56 in intensive care, the government said on Tuesday. Two more people died, bringing the death toll to 192.
A total of 38 patients are mechanically ventilated and 27 patients were discharged from hospital, while 53 new patients were admitted, according to data by the tracker Covid-19.Sledilnik.
So far, 14,472 infections have been confirmed in Slovenia in 293,769 test, with 7,708 currently active cases. The country saw 368 new cases per 100,000 people in the last 14 days.
As the number of admissions rises, hospitals around the country are expanding capacity.
UKC Ljubljana, Slovenia's largest hospital, announced yesterday it had launched a third location for Covid-19 patients. They are now treated at the department for infectious diseases, a nursing hospital and the orthopaedic department.
Director Janez Poklukar said there was currently sufficient capacity, but the number of beds would be increased as needed.
UKC Maribor yesterday announced it was temporarily shutting down most elective procedures to free up rooms and staff for Covid-19 patients. It said it could have over 100 beds for these patients if necessary.
Given that shortage of staff is currently a bigger problem for hospitals than the number of beds, both hospitals have also urged private practitioners to help since they are unable to perform all the services they typically do.
Covid-19 task force head worried about fast increase in daily cases
STA, 19 October 2020 - About 1% of Slovenia's population is infected with Sars-CoV-2 based on the test positivity rate, the head of the government task force Bojana Beović said Monday evening. Under the optimistic scenario, between 480 and 680 people will be in hospital in the second half of November.
She said the daily increase in cases was very high at the moment and Slovenia was slowly nearing the EU countries that have borne the brunt of Covid-19. While the situation is under control at the moment, this will unlikely be the case in a month's time, she indicated.
Bojana Beović. YouTube
Giving a statement for the press in a government briefing, she said that if the restrictions put in place will be effective, 480-680 people will still require hospital care in the second half of October, of them between 80 and 190 will require intensive care.
Currently, some 300 Covid-19 patients are in hospital in Slovenia, 60 requiring intensive treatment. Data collected by epidemiologists suggest that the main culprit for the contagion in the country are social events, she said. Foreign studies meanwhile suggest that the virus spreads most efficiently in bars, restaurants and in sports facilities.
Beović also commented as to why Slovenia faced a lack of intensive care unit (ICU) staff. The doctors and nurses working there require special skills and know-how, she said. At the same time, patients who are not infected with Sars-CoV-2 are also in ICUs and have to be cared for by the same teams as Covid-19 patients.
Touching on the most recent government measures, Beović underlined that the new restrictions had been based on expert criteria and were similar to those in other countries.
"In an ideal situation, we would have hoped that simple measures would suffice. But that has not worked, maybe also because we did not believe they would and did not stick to them."
The latest statistics on coronavirus and Slovenia, and the latest police news on red, green and yellow list countries. All our stories on coronavirus and Slovenia. Can I transit Slovenia? Find out from the police... All our stories on Slovenia and coronavirus
