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This summary is provided by the STA:
Slovenia records first coronavirus fatality as elderly man dies
LJUBLJANA - An elderly man died of coronavirus at UKC Ljubljana hospital in Ljubljana, the first covid-19 victim in Slovenia. The man is reported to have had multiple underlying conditions and been very ill prior to the infection. He had been infected in Metlika, where several residents of a nursing home contracted the disease from a doctor who became ill in Italy. Seven residents and five staff have tested positive for coronavirus, making Metlika one of the biggest hotspots of the disease in Slovenia.
Focus shifting from confirmed to severe covid-19 cases
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia is shifting the focus of efforts to fight the coronavirus epidemic from the number of confirmed cases to the number of serious cases. Announcing the change, Prime Minister Janez Janša said that this would allow the country to better plan and allocate resources. Persons with respiratory infections will be told to self-isolate for two weeks and will not be tested for coronavirus. Only if they need to be hospitalised will they be tested. The number of positive cases by 2pm rose to 181, including a person on a Turkish Airlines 1061 flight to Ljubljana on 10 March.
Cap on protective gear prices, dispensing of drugs
LJUBLJANA - The new government issued a decree that caps the highest prices of protective personal and medical equipment and agents used by the services dealing with the coronavirus outbreak. The prices of products such as surgical masks, goggles, gloves, hazmat suits, sanitizers and ventilators over the next three months cannot increase beyond the highest retail prices as of 8am Saturday. A decree also stepped into force limiting dispensing of prescription and over-the-counter drugs. The government also decreed that measures "stipulated in the contagious diseases act for plague or viral haemorrhagic fevers" be applied to fight the covid-19 epidemic.
Govt acting to secure emergency food supplies
LJUBLJANA - The government ordered the Commodity Reserves Institute to gradually increase reserves of milk, meat and dairy products for emergency supply of the population during the coronavirus outbreak. The government also put forward to parliament an emergency bill to intervene in agricultural markets, which would allow it to impose restrictions or bans on food and livestock imports and exports, and imports of wood and to cap food prices in response to disruption on the market.
Public transportation to be suspended Monday, bar ban planned
LJUBLJANA - The government's crisis management unit agreed additional measures to contain coronavirus, including a suspension of all public transportation starting on Monday. "Stopping public transportation is an urgent measure if we want to effectively contain the outbreak," Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec said. Health Minister Tomaž Gantar announced a closure of bars and restaurants without specifying when it may take effect. Prime Minister Janez Janša wrote on Twitter that "Slovenia will close or limit all non-urgent activities".
Foreign Ministry advises against all travel to Spain
LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Ministry issued a travel alert advising against all travel to Spain, the second major coronavirus hotspot in Europe after Italy. All Slovenians in Spain were advised to return home as soon as possible. The ministry again appealed on Slovenians to postpone non-essential travel aboard, advising in particular against travel to Italy, Iran, South Korea and China. As the US travel ban from Europe came into force, Slovenian citizens were urged to return home immediately.
Govt makes first replacements
LJUBLJANA - The Janez Janša government dismissed Police Commissioner Tatjana Bobnar and Chief of the General Staff Alenka Ermenc its maiden session, naming security expert Anton Travner and Ermenc's deputy Robert Glavaš as stand-ins until new naming full-fledged replacements. Andrej Osolnik was appointed director of the Defence Ministry's intelligence and security service OVS in place of Dejan Matijevič. The government also appointed new state secretaries, and replaced Kristina Plavšak Krajnc with SDS public relations officer Miro Petek as director of the Government Communication Office.
State budget implementation suspended
LJUBLJANA - The new government suspended the implementation of the state budget until a supplementary budget is drawn up in response to the coronavirus crisis. Spending rights of direct budgetary users to a combined EUR 400 million in unallocated rights were reduced by 30% to set aside funds for urgent measures to contain and tackle the coronavirus fallout. The need for a supplementary budget became obvious after the country's growth forecast for the year was halved to 1.5%.
MP Franc Trček leaves the Left
LJUBLJANA - Franc Trček, a high-profile MP for the Left, parted ways with the opposition party shortly after the National Assembly confirmed the Janez Janša cabinet on Friday. This was after fellow MPs accused him of effectively praising the new prime minister because in a brief statement he made during the session he noted that as co-chair of the parliamentary Health Committee he had cooperated well with the co-chairs from the ranks of the Democrats (SDS) and Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ).
AI leveraged to track coronavirus news
LJUBLJANA - The International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence taking shape in Slovenia has joined efforts to raise awareness about the coronavirus pandemic. Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) technology, it developed a tool for the real-time monitoring of media reports. The tool, available at http://coronaviruswatch.ircai.org/ and powered by Event Registry, provides rolling coverage of news about coronavirus at the global level and for individual countries.
