STA, 12 July - The recent surge in coronavirus cases in Slovenia is to a large extent the result of an outbreak associated with two groups of secondary school students who were on a trip to the Spanish resort Lloret de Mar. A total of 134 students have tested positive since their return and a further 57 secondary cases have been confirmed.
A total of 108 cases were confirmed among 300-plus students from Dolenjska who returned home on 3 July, plus 51 secondary cases, according to the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ).
In a slightly smaller group from Gorenjska that returned from Spain on 8 July, there are currently 26 confirmed cases and six secondary cases, NIJZ epidemiologist Eva Grilc told the press on Monday.
The NIJZ has conducted contact tracing for both groups of students and all have been ordered to quarantine. However, a few who were supposed to quarantine went on to continue their vacation in Croatia.
"Two or three persons indeed went to Croatia and we have alerted the Croatian authorities thereof. This is all I know," she said.
Grilc said the vast majority of the students had not been vaccinated yet. "We definitely recommend that all persons who wish to travel get their jabs before leaving."
While the sequencing of the samples has not been completed yet, Grilc said there were preliminary indications the students were infected with the more transmissible delta variant of SARS-CoV-2.