STA, 18 February 2021 - A total of 872 people tested positive for coronavirus in Slovenia on Wednesday as the rolling 7-day average of new cases dropped to 768, data released by the government show. A further ten patients with Covid-19 died.
The latest case count marks a decline of 36% from Wednesday a week ago. The cases were confirmed in 4,271 PCR tests for a positivity rate of 20.4%. The count includes retested positives suggested by 24,005 rapid antigen tests.
Hospitalisations kept declining further, dropping by 29 to 619 as 61 patients were discharged and 42 were newly admitted. The number of patients in intensive care units fell by ten to 116.
To move from orange to yellow tier of coronavirus restrictions under the government plan, hospitalisations would have to fall below 500 and the 7-day average of new confirmed cases below 600.
Slovenia has so far reported 182,484 coronavirus cases with an estimated 11,234 still active, data from the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) shows.
According to tracker site covid-19.sledilnik.org, a total of 3,755 Covid-19 patients have died.
The cumulative 14-day incidence per 100,000 residents is 532 and the 7-day incidence is 256, according to NIJZ. The highest incidence is in the Obalno-Kraška region, at 710 and 397, respectively.
Commenting on the situation at the daily press briefing, Bojana Beović, the government's chief Covid-19 adviser, noted that the improving epidemiological situation was the product of measures that were in force ten to 14 days ago.
The figures do not reflect the recent easing of restrictions, she said, warning that any premature or too extensive relaxation could trigger a third wave, even without an outbreak of the more virulent variants of the virus.
"All the paths are still open, the epidemic is not over yet," said the infectious diseases expert, who will take over as the head of the Medical Chamber following today's confirmation and will thus no longer head the Covid-19 advisory group.
She is particularly concerned about the South African variant, which she said was in fact a new disease. Those who have recovered from coronavirus are not immunised against this variant and likewise are the Covid-19 vaccines so far approved by the EU not effective against it.
On a positive note, she said sample analyses so far indicated the country had managed to control the UK variant. She also believes that immunity acquired through infection has a major role in curbing the epidemic, along with precautionary measures.
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