STA, 4 March 2021 - Secondary school students in years 1-3 are joining their final-year peers Monday as secondary schools fully reopen amid the coronavirus epidemic. However, this does not mean the end of remote learning just yet - under model C, half of them will come to school for a week while the other half will be distance learning at home.

There are no changes to final-year secondary school students, who come to school every day, Education Minister Simona Kustec told the press on Thursday.

There are also no changes to primary schools, with the only difference being the introduction of face masks for children in years 6 to 9 also in their classrooms.

Currently all primary schools children - from year 1-9 - have to wear them only in communal areas such as corridors, halls, or dining areas.

Face masks will also be mandatory from next week for secondary schools, for both students and teachers.

As before, students in the shorter, two-year vocational secondary education continue in-person learning, explained the minister.

Next week will also see the launch of priority vaccination for education workers, first for those older than 50.

All teachers teaching in-person are still required to get tested for coronavirus once a week.

Kustec said the epidemiological situation in kindergartens and schools remains stable.

The latest data shows that 79% of kindergarten children and 83% of staff are in kindergarten, while both figures for primary schools are 90%.

Active infections in kindergartens, primary and secondary schools are currently at 0.16%, with 1% of children quarantining, the minister added.

Health inspectors meanwhile carried out 40 checks related to coronavirus testing at schools and kindergartens last week, establishing no breaches, Deana Potza from the Health Inspectorate told the government's daily Covid-19 briefing.

The findings show that educational establishments provide for testing of their staff and that there were no irregularities in organising nor informing the staff about testing, she explained.

Following around four months of distance learning, primary schools reopened for children in years 1-3 on 9 February, and for the rest of primary schools children on 15 February, when final-year secondary students also returned to school.

Special-needs children returned to in-person school on 5 January, while higher education continues largely remotely.

STA, 4 March 2021 - Bars and restaurants in two eastern regions, Posavje and South-east Slovenia, will be able to start serving customers outdoor as of Monday, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek announced on Twitter. Initially, this will be a one-week test to see how things turn out.

Počivalšek said he was glad "we've come to a point where we can restart a portion of the hospitality industry." He suggested the two regions would serve as a bellwether for the rest of Slovenia when it comes to reopening.

"The opening carries huge responsibility... I appeal to proprietors and guests: act responsibly," he added.

The two lucky regions

While Slovenia is in the orange tier of restrictions, both regions currently have figures that place them firmly in the milder, yellow tier, where serving customers outdoor is allowed.

Počivalšek said that if coronavirus cases there rise, outdoor hospitality will be banned for the yellow tier.

The reopening will be strictly regulated.

Service will be possible between 6am and 7pm. Customers will have to wear masks at all times, except when they are seated at their table, and staff will have to wear masks at all times and get tested for coronavirus weekly.

Tables will have to be three metres apart and no more than four guests are allowed at each table.

Slovenian restaurants have been closed for indoor service since mid-October. Both bars and restaurants were able to offer take-away service, and, since last month, restaurants were allowed to serve B2B guests indoors.

Proprietors have welcomed the move as a sign that there is political will to reopen the industry. "It is also a motivation for proprietors in other regions to achieve the criteria [for reopening] as soon as possible," the Chamber of Trade Crafts and Small Business (OZS) said.

The Tourism and Hospitality Chamber of Slovenia added that the government should say as soon as possible when accommodation may reopen so that marketing activities may start soon enough. "Without guests, opening accommodation does not make sense," it said.

STA, 3 March 2021 - The National Assembly passed on Wednesday legislation designed to end fictitious registrations of residence, a widespread practice uncovered in recent months.

The amendments to the residence registration act will crack down on fictitious registrations at addresses that are not residential, or residential addresses where the size of the living quarters clearly precludes the registration of a large number of people.

This will be done in several ways, for example with the requirement that individuals may register residence only at the administrative unit where the address is located.

At each registration, the public official conducting the procedure will have to check the actual use of the building and the number of persons already registered at the address. There will be a minimum per person requirement in terms of square metres.

If the conditions for registration are not satisfied, officials will be able to reject such applications using a simplified procedure.

The legislation comes after a series of reports showed there were apartments and sometimes even commercial premises where dozens and sometimes over a hundred persons, mostly foreigners, were registered.

MPs also rejected a separate amendment, proposed by the opposition National Party (SNS) and adopted by the Home Policy Committee, that would have required individuals to provide information about their ethnicity and religious affiliation when reporting their residence.

The provision, criticised by the Office of the Information Commissioner as discriminatory, was overridden with amendments tabled by both the coalition Modern Centre Party (SMC) and New Slovenia (NSi), and the opposition Left.

STA, 3 March 2021 - All secondary school students who have been learning remotely will return to in-person teaching on Monday, while primary school students in grades six to nine will have to wear masks at all time in class, the government decided as it conducted its weekly review of coronavirus restrictions.

The change for secondary school students comes after schools reopened in mid-February, but only final-year secondary students returned to classrooms. They were given priority because they have to prepare for school-leaving exams.

Secondary school students have been pushing for a return to classrooms and, despite the ban on gatherings of over 10 people, in early February they staged rallies to demand schools reopen.

In primary schools all students returned to class. They have to wear face masks while mixing in common areas but so far they have not had to wear masks in class. Students in grades from six to nine will now have to wear masks at all times.

The move was proposed by the Health Ministry's Covid-19 advisory group.

Teachers have to wear masks at all times and they must get tested for coronavirus once a week, a requirement that remains unchanged.

All other restrictions remain in place as well, including the 9pm-6am curfew, restrictions on gatherings, and the closure of bars and hospitality establishments.

With the exception of the coastal Obalno-Kraška region, Slovenia is currently in the orange tier of restrictions. New cases and hospital numbers had been falling steadily, but cases in particular have plateaued and even increased in some parts of the country.

STA, 3 March 2021 - The national Seismology Office has presented a new seismic hazard map for Slovenia, taking into account the latest seismic and geo-tectonic data. The upgraded danger levels and risk assessment are based on the new findings of the past two decades.

The old seismic hazard map dates back to 2001 and the new one will step into force when the changes to the earthquake resistant construction legislation are passed.

Based on the new earthquake risk assessment, engineers will establish whether national building codes in line with the Eurocode 8 seismic hazard zoning standards need to be changed.

The new map shows peak ground acceleration as well as spectral acceleration to include all possible building frequencies.

Related: Old Photos - Ljubljana After the 1895 Earthquake

Seismic hazard levels are assessed for firm ground sites using earthquake sources probability assessment and taking into account the expected lifespan of average buildings.

The upgraded version was drawn up based on the latest data used for the new European seismic hazard map and specific regional circumstances. The list of earthquakes in the country and its vicinity has been brought up to date as well.

Active faults or ground breaks and their sources, defined by the Geological Survey of Slovenia, have been included in the map for the first time ever, meaning risk levels are now assessed not just on the basis of previous quakes but also on potential fault hotspots.

Areas with the highest earthquake hazard in Slovenia are the Posavje region in the east, the Novo Mesto area in the south-east, the capital Ljubljana and certain areas in the north-west and west of the country, particularly the Kobarid, Bovec and Idrija areas. On the other hand, the coast, the Maribor area and the north-east are safest.

If you’d like to keep up-to-date with the latest in seismic activity as it relates to Slovenia, there’s the government website (in Slovene) here, while an international site, in English and searchable by location, is here.

STA, 28 February 2021 - Singer Ana Soklič will represent Slovenia at this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam with a song titled Amen. The song was premiered during the annual EMA music event on Saturday evening with Soklič singing it in English.

Since it was already known that Soklič will represent Slovenia this year as she did not get the chance to do that in 2020, the only thing left to announce was the song.

The latest Slovenian Eurovision entry will be first presented to the European audience during the contest's first semi-final on 18 May.

The inspiration for the song was life itself, said Soklič, who co-wrote music along with Žiga Pirnat and Bojan Simončič and lyrics with Pirnat and US lyricist Charlie Mason, whose credits include hits by Miley Cyrus as well as the 2014 Eurovision winning song Rise Like a Phoenix, performed by Conchita Wurst.

The production of Amen also included the RTV Slovenija Symphony Orchestra and an accompanying choir led by Dorian Holley, who was one of Michael Jackson's backing vocalists.

The vocals for the song were recorded in EastWest Studios in Hollywood with record producer Tony Maserati on hand. Maserati is famous for working with music celebrities such as Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran, Jennifer Lopez, Whitney Houston and David Bowie, RTV Slovenija said.

He contributed to the development of the New York R&B and hip-hop scene in the 1990s and has been since cooperating on Grammy nominated and winning projects including with Black Eyed Peas and Beyoncé.

This year's EMA was held in a different format due to the Covid circumstances and the cancellation of last year's Eurovision contest. Instead of 12 songs competing for the honour to represent Slovenia, the show paid tribute to the most famous Slovenian and Yugoslavian Eurovision performances to mark the 60th anniversary of former Yugoslavia's first Eurovision appearance.

Slovenia was first represented at Eurovision as an independent country in 1993. Since then, the country has never failed to take part except for 1994 and 2000. The country's best result to date is 7th place, both in 1995 with Darja Švajger and in 2001 with Nuša Derenda.

STA, 26 February 2021 - As gatherings are banned in the coastal Obalno-Kraška region as of Saturday and travel between this and other regions is restricted to work- and health-related reasons, Interior Minister Aleš Hojs explained that schools will not be closed in the region for the time being. There will also be no ban on travel between municipalities there.

Hojs told the press on Friday that the restrictions were being introduced due to the deteriorating epidemiological situation in the region, but travel would not be restricted to municipal borders.

"As the epidemiological situation in the municipalities of the Obalno-Kraška region is mostly comparable and because only one statistical region has entered the red [tier], we decided to confine movement within the region only," he said.

Several exceptions for the crossing of the regional border will be allowed, but these do not include visits to shops that are not available in the region.

"We know that a part of shops in the region have been closed and this is the exception that people could take advantage of, by saying that they allegedly need to travel to Ljubljana or elsewhere for that reason," the minister stressed.

Travel between the permanent and temporary residence will not be considered as an exception, either. "If you have a permanent residence in Ljubljana, you are in Ljubljana. This ... must not be exploited for going on a vacation or on a trip to the coast."

As for schools, Hojs said that they would remain open in the Obalno-Kraška region, meaning that primary school children and students of the final grade of secondary school would continue to be taught in-person on Monday.

"A decision has been made that school workers, epidemiologists and doctors come up by next Wednesday with a model under which in-person teaching could perhaps be continued, and even all secondary school students return to school, in the red regions."

Elsewhere in the country, gatherings remain restricted to up to ten persons and the 9pm-6am curfew remains in force. Hojs believes that the latter has had a positive impact on the epidemiological situation in Slovenia.

"From the position I hold at the moment, I may assess that the measure has contributed much to the situation starting to improve," he said, assessing that otherwise, the picture would have been much different, mostly because of private parties.

The government is currently taking decisions on restrictions on the regional basis, but if a majority of the regions return to the red tier, it will probably resort again to taking measures at the national level, Hojs added.

STA, 25 February 2021 - Any gatherings are banned in the coastal Obalno-Kraška region from Saturday and travel between this region and others is restricted to work- and health-related reasons, the government decreed at Thursday's correspondence session. The current level of restrictions remains in force in the rest of the country.

The exemptions from the restriction on inter-regional movement in the case of the coastal region include commute to or from work, travel for business purposes, commercial farming and forestry work, or travel required to deal with direct threats to health, life or property.

Travel to or from the coastal region is also allowed to maintain contacts with one's children, to care for or help a person in need or a family member or to access health and spa services and pharmacies if needed.

People visiting foreign diplomatic or consular offices, or accessing emergency services or judicial and administrative services will also be exempt from the ban.

Other exemptions include those seeking services for people with special needs, people seeing to a property, people transiting the coastal region to cross the border or travel to their home region and people who need to perform urgent maintenance work on a grave.

The exceptions also apply to close family members or members of the same household when travelling together.

The region in question

Provided they heed precaution protocols, crossing the borders of the region is also permitted for people with a Covid-19 vaccination certificate, a negative coronavirus test, PCR or rapid, no older than 48 hours, or a document attesting they tested positive more than 21 days but less than six months ago, or a GP's confirmation that the person has recovered from Covid-19 earlier than half a year ago.

The test results are valid if they were produced in EU member states or Schengen countries or by third country organisations or individuals cleared by the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology and National Laboratory of Health, Environment and Food.

In other regions, gatherings of up to ten persons remain permitted. The 9pm-6am curfew remains in force across the country.

STA, 24 February 2021 - The National Public Health Institute (NIJZ) has announced that a total of 25,200 doses of the Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines for Covid-19 are expected in Slovenia on Thursday.

More than 232,000 doses are expected to be delivered in March - 99,450 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, 30,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine and 102,885 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the NIJZ told the STA on Wednesday.

This week, Pfizer already delivered 22,230 doses, and a slightly larger shipment of Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccine is expected tomorrow.

Moderna is expected to deliver 8,400 doses, half of which is to be used for second shots, while AstraZeneca is to deliver 16,800 shots, all of which will go for first shots, the NIJZ said.

As for March, Pfizer is expected to deliver shipments of almost 20,000 doses every Monday. AstraZeneca is to deliver its vaccine in five shipments, the first coming on 4 March, when 3,700 doses are expected.

All the latest data on Slovenia and coronavirus