STA, 15 October 2020 - Bars, restaurants and sports facilities will close in most Slovenian statistical regions on Saturday as part of tightened coronavirus measures, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek told the press on Thursday.

While the government decree on the ban will enter into force on Friday, the Economy Ministry explained for the STA that the measure will be enforced as of Saturday, since the National Institute for Public Health needed to first publish updated official data on the epidemiological situation in the individual regions.

The bars and indoor sports facilities ban will apply for all regions designated red, which means all regions in the county bar a few in the west, south-west and north-east which are presently in the orange stage in terms of the 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 residents.

The hospitality ban excludes bars and restaurant at facilities that also provide accommodation, but services will be limited to guests staying there.

Take-away and delivery will be allowed everywhere, the ban applies only to service on location.

Hairdressers will still be allowed to provide services, but the number of clients allowed at a time is one per room.

In orange regions, bars and restaurants will be allowed to stay open from 6am to 10:30pm.

Fitness centres and indoor sports facilities will stay open in these regions as well, but visitor numbers will be limited to one person per 20 square metres. The same restriction will apply for hairdressing and beauty salons.

Počivalšek said he was aware of the impact the restrictions would have on business and announced another stimulus package would be adopted if necessary.

The extension of the tourism vouchers scheme into 2021 has already been announced.

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STA, 15 October 2020 - Slovenia has logged yet another coronavirus record as the daily tally hit 745 for Wednesday, following 707 the day before, bringing the total case count to well over 10,000.

Government spokesman Jelko Kacin, speaking at a press briefing now under way, said that a record 5,287 tests were performed yesterday, with 14% of the cases returning positive, just slightly below 14.4% the day before.

Hospitalisations increased by twelve to 222 despite 20 Covid-19 patients being discharged home on Wednesday. As many as 40 are in intensive case units, five more than the day before.

Both figures are close to thresholds the government set for declaring an epidemic again, after a third criteria, that is the rolling 14-day average, has already been passed days ago.

The 14-day incidence per 100,000 residents is now 230, up from 203 the day before. The so-called phase-red threshold is 140, along with at least 250 hospitalisations and at least 50 intensive care patients.

Slovenia has so far confirmed 10,683 coronavirus cases, of which 4,818 remain active, data from tracker site covid-19.sledilnik.org show.

After another fatality on Wednesday, the Covid-related death toll has increased to 176.

Kacin said that epidemiologists were overwhelmed with new cases, so they were no longer able to conduct enquiries on all new cases in a single day. Out of 707 cases on Tuesday they managed to process about 500 yesterday.

Infections continue to spread among staff in healthcare and at care homes. Tracker data show 26 new infections were among health staff, 18 among care home residents and 13 among staff in the homes.

By far the highest number of new cases, 119, was confirmed in Ljubljana, whose per capita infection rate has risen to 0.271% with 797 active cases.

After a total of 134 municipalities reported new cases for Wednesday, only five remain that have not had any infection yet. Črna na Koroškem in the north continues to have the highest infection rate, at 0.914%.

Older primary school, secondary school students switching to remote learning

STA, 15 October 2020 - Primary school children as of the 6th grade and secondary school students will be schooled remotely as of Monday for at least one week, Education Minister Simona Kustec announced on Thursday as the government has adopted additional restrictive measures.

Children attending the first five grades of primary school will meanwhile continued to go to school, Kustec told the press. Kindergartens will continue to operate normally.

Children up to the fifth grade are exempt because they have only started their education and they need to be taught in-person, while they also have the same teacher all the time so mingling is restricted, she added.

For the time being, remote learning will take place next week, after which primary and secondary school students go to week-long autumn holidays. A reassessment will be made after the holidays.

If the epidemiological situation improves after the holidays, schooling may be back to the system used at the moment, the minister said.

Vocational colleges will switch to remote learning next week all the way until the end of October, according to the letter the Education, Science and Sport Ministry has sent to schools.

Music schools will also be working remotely next week, while all programmes of institutions and schools for children with special needs will be implemented in person.

Sport facilities operated by schools may only be used for competitions and training by registered athletes in the senior and junior categories, Minister Kustec also announced.

All afternoon and extracurricular activities in schools are suspended until further notice.

Apprentices should continue their apprenticeships in line with instructions and measures taken their employer.

It has been left to higher education institutions to decide how they will organise their academic processes. "As we have noticed, this usually means transitioning to remote learning," the minister said.

Dormitories for secondary school students will continue with their work normally, but residents are encouraged to leave them for their homes in order to provide a safer environment to those who do not have conditions for remote learning at home.

Fitness centres and indoor sport facilities will need to secure 20 square metres for a single person during exercise or trainings, Kustec added.

The minister said the infection rate among primary and secondary school employees and students was 0.09%, and the share of quarantined persons is above 1%.

"Perhaps this is a low number, but when compared to the entire epidemiological picture, we can see that it increases at a comparable rate, and this was the main reason for the measures," she added.

At the beginning of September, the ministry distributed 4,000 computers to schools to help them organise remote learning. If there is need for more equipment, the ministry will help, Kustec concluded.

Representatives of associations of head teachers and trade unions expressed surprise at the government's decision not to use a regional approach and introduce the measure only in the red-listed statistical regions.

"Why are the restrictions across-the-board?" wondered the head of the Association of Primary School Headteachers, Gregor Pečan, adding that the measure was disproportionate as it had been envisaged for the epidemic declaration phase.

Branimir Štrukelj of the SVIZ trade union of teachers added that the "government decisions lack consistency" and that he had the feeling that it had no serious strategy for schools and kindergartens.

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STA, 14 October 2020 - Prime Minister Janez Janša, his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban and Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman addressed a ceremony in the north-east of the country on Wednesday launching construction of a power line that will link the three countries.

The 80-kilometre power line between Cirkovce near Ptuj and Pince on the border with Hungary will establish a link between the Hungarian and Slovenian national grids and consequently Croatia's.

The EUR 150 million project has been almost two decades in the making, mainly due to lengthy zoning procedures.

Janša noted that it took ten times as long to prepare the project as it would to build it; ELES, the national grid operator, expects for the 2x400 kV power line to be linked internationally by the end of 2021 with the project to be fully completed with final details by the end of 2022.

[FOTO] [VIDEO] @JJansaSDS ob otvoritvi začetka izgradnje daljnovoda Cirkovce-Pince: Samo politična povezava, brez energetskih in infrastrukturnih povezav, je mrtva črka na papirju.https://t.co/JqapgFEXpY pic.twitter.com/RuT1UvuWbv

— Vlada Republike Slovenije (@vladaRS) October 14, 2020

"Unfortunately, we have terrible difficulties in Slovenia when it comes to the speed of development projects and their siteing, not so much with construction as with red tape," Janša said, adding that the project should serve as a further encouragement that procedures should never again take that long.

He said the power line was of exceptional importance not only for Slovenia but for a broader region despite the fact that electricity was being taken for granted, just like health before one got sick.

He thanked those responsible in Hungarian and Croatian institutions for making the project possible, praising excellent cooperation between the three countries during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in spring.

Orban labelled today's event as historic, not only because of the energy link between the two countries, but also because of a vital moment between the nations.

He said Central Europe was gaining on significance as the centre of development was moving eastward. "The EU is not just a German-French matter, it's also links between the countries that are gaining on value, which is making them a site of geopolitical games and interests of the big ones," said Orban.

He underscored energy policy and cooperation in the field as an important aspect that boosts the region's position. He predicted a further step in that direction as Slovenia and Hungary agree enhancing their gas pipeline and rail links.

The Croatian foreign minister said the power line construction was in the interests of the whole EU as the bloc sought to strengthen infrastructure links in Central Europe.

He said additional steps would be needed in the future to make the energy system reliable in the long term because the role of the sector would be vital for the EU's economic recovery.

ELES boss Aleksander Mervar said the power line would create the first cross-border link with Hungary's grid, thus increasing the system's reliability.

The project is valued at about EUR 150 million, of which EUR 50 million will come in EU funds.

After the ceremony, Janša and Orban met over working lunch for discussion on bilateral matters, topical EU issues and the coronavirus pandemic.

STA, 13 October 2020 - Slovenia issued EUR 1 billion-worth of 30-year bonds on Tuesday, the business paper Finance said in a report referring to Bloomberg data. Unofficially, the interest rate for the bonds is slightly under 0.5%, while the yield also stands at around 0.5%.

According to unofficial sources quoted by Bloomberg the interest rate for the issue is 50 basis points above the 30-year mid-swap rate, which stands at -0.005%. Bloomberg said this means a better result than planned, as the financial institutions commissioned for the issue by the state had expected 65 basis points.

Bloomberg said demand reached EUR 5.75 billion, while the yield is 0.493%.

Ministry said that compared to the country's portfolio, the bond has the longest outstanding maturity. Compared to previous euro-bond issues, this issue stands out in terms of its contribution to prolonging the average binding period of state debt, the lowering of average interest rate and the strengthening of investor dispersion, both in terms of geography and type.

Most investors, 22%, were from Austria and Germany, 14% from the US, 13% from the UK and France, 8% from Slovenia, 7% from Switzerland, 5% from Scandinavia and 16% from the rest of Europe.

By type, the majority of investors, 71%, were fund managers, pensions funds and insurance companies, and 21% of investors were banks, the ministry also said.

"The successful issue of the 30-year bond is proof that long-term trust has been established and that Slovenia remains an investment-safe country despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic," the ministry added in a press release.

Barclays, BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, Goldman Sachs International, JP Morgan and Unicredit Banka Slovenija were mandated to manage the issue.

The same banks were mandated by the treasury last week to buy back two outstanding bonds with a combined value of EUR 2.6 billion that are due in 2021 as Slovenia seeks to reduce the interest it pays on its debt. Today's update on the basis of offers received is that Slovenia plans to buy back bonds worth EUR 172.98 million nominally in total.

Slovenia has raised almost EUR 6 billion this year through new bonds and supplemented existing issues, while also auctioning off a few T-bills. A major part of the funds went for measures related to the coronacrisis.

Despite the economic situation and increased debt, the interest rates on Slovenian debt have fallen. Moody's recently upgraded Slovenia's long-term issuer and senior unsecured bond ratings by one notch to A3 from Baa1, while Fitch and Standard & Poor's kept Slovenia's credit rating unchanged in recent months.

According to Bloomberg, Slovenia's longest bond issue (25 years) currently has a yield of 0.40% on the secondary market, which is the lowest yield in history for the country. The yield for 10-year bonds is meanwhile -0.10%.

When Slovenia issued a 30-year bond five years ago, the interest rate demanded by investors was 3.125%.

Check the date at the top of the page, and you can find all the "morning headlines" stories here. You can also follow us on Facebook and get all the news in your feed.

This summary is provided by the STA: 

Slovenia tightens restrictions as cases surge

LJUBLJANA - PM Janez Janša announced additional restrictive measures to contain the spread of coronavirus, including remote learning from the fifth grade of primary school up as of Monday and at least until the autumn holiday, as well as an inter-regional movement ban, limited gatherings and mandatory masks outdoors in seven red-listed regions as of Friday. The regions are Central Slovenia, Gorenjska, Koroška, Zasavje, Posavje, Savinja and South-eastern Slovenia. Moreover, reserves in the healthcare system are to be activated. Remote learning will apply to secondary schools as well, and colleges and universities are also urged to do as much work as possible remotely. The decree detailing the measures is to be published on Thursday. More details here

A record 707 Sars-CoV-2 infections confirmed in 4,902 tests on Tuesday

LJUBLJANA - A total of 707 new Sars-CoV-2 cases were confirmed in Slovenia on Tuesday, almost a doubling of Monday's figure and a new record by far, which comes on 4,902 tests conducted, a new high as well, as the positivity rate hit a record 14.4%. Slovenia's incidence rate, a key EU-wide indicator that shows the number of infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days, has increased to 202.75 from 178.91 the previous day. Covid-19 claimed two more lives, increasing Slovenia's death toll to 175. The number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals increased by 30 to 210. The government is meeting in the afternoon to adopt new restrictions.

Top officials from Slovenia, Hungary and Croatia launch key investment

LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Janez Janša, his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban and Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman addressed a ceremony in the north-east of the country launching construction of a power line that will link the three countries. The EUR 150 million project has been almost two decades in the making, mainly due to lengthy zoning procedures. Janša said that the project should give fresh impetus to efforts to speed up relevant procedures, Orban described the event as historic, and Grlić Radman said additional steps would be needed in the future to make the energy system reliable in the long term.

Austria extends border control with Slovenia until May 2021

VIENNA, Austria - Austria extended border control on its borders with Slovenia and Hungary by another six months, until 11 May 2021. Austria's Interior Minister Karl Nehammer listed migration pressure, safety concerns and Covid-19 as reasons for the move. The measure can be extended based on approval from the European Commission, which has been notified of the step.

Coordination of Covid-19 measures in focus of Logar's talks in Prague

PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Coordination of measures to limit the spread of coronavirus topped the agenda as Foreign Minister Anže Logar held talks with his Czech counterpart Tomaš Petriček. The ministers agreed coordination at EU level should be more efficient and endorsed the common EU approach to the development of a vaccine, the Foreign Ministry said. Logar expressed interest in closer ties between the Slovenian and Czech logistics sectors.

Constitutional judge candidate to protect human rights, law and Constitution

LJUBLJANA - A constitutional judge must not be just another court instance but must be able to show the sensitivity that previous instances many not have showed, said constitutional judge candidate Anže Erbežnik during his hearing in parliament. "Currently there is a clash between two paradigms - one is the paradigm of human rights and the other is the paradigm whose vision is for the world to become a technological dictatorship in the future," said the 44-year-old Erbežnik, a professor who has been working for the European Parliament for 17 years, including ten years as counsellor of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. Erbežnik is against narrowing access to the top court.

Candidate for C-bank vice-governor says she boasts academic, practical experience

LJUBLJANA - The candidate for vice-governor of the central bank Arjana Brezigar Masten argued during her confirmation hearing in parliament that she had both academic and practical experience. If appointed, she will improve coordination among Banka Slovenije departments, and promote the strengthening of know-how and the image of Banka Slovenije in the euro system. Currently the director of analytics and research at the central bank, she sees Banka Slovenije as an important link between Slovenia and other eurozone members, and a leverage for Slovenia to implement its interests in the common monetary policy and international finance world. MPs are expected to decide on her appointment at the plenary starting on Monday.

Brussels urges Slovenia to support renewables, energy efficiency

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Commission called on Slovenia to invest and make reforms towards promoting renewable sources of energy and in support of energy efficiency and sustainable transport in its state of the energy union report. It said that Slovenia's plans in renewable energy lacked ambition, while the ambition in energy efficiency was assessed as modest or small.

IJS: Slovenia's reproduction number at 1.93

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's reproduction number, showing how many people one infected person will pass the virus on to, has climbed to 1.93, while the epidemic has been spreading with the doubling time of 7.4 days, the Jožef Stefan Institute (IJS) said, highlighting that the key defence wall preventing the further spreading of the virus, the epidemiological service, was under enormous pressure and was starting to show cracks.

Maribor mayor tests positive for coronavirus

MARIBOR - Maribor Mayor Saša Arsenovič tested positive for coronavirus. The mayor probably contracted the virus at a family lunch as his father has tested positive as well, Arsenovič's office said, adding that the mayor is feeling well and quarantining. All of his staff at his office and at the city administration who have been in direct contact with him will be quarantining from Thursday, it added. Due to having had a working meeting with Arsenovič on Monday, four MPs from Maribor will start self-isolating, reported news portal Politikis.

Govt adopts regulator merger bill

LJUBLJANA - The government adopted a bill which would merge eight major regulators into two agencies. The main change in comparison with the preliminary draft is that the agency's management and supervisory bodies would be appointed by the parliament, not the government.

Doctors, dentists express indignation over statement by Left MP

LJUBLJANA - Three major organisations representing doctors and dentists expressed indignation over a statement by the opposition Left MP Miha Kordiš in which he called a part of private practitioners quacks. Two of the organisations expect an apology, while the FIDES trade union wants senior officials to make a stand. The Left responded by saying that such an interpretation of Kordiš's claim was a manipulation and that his statement was in fact accurate. However, the party also apologised to anyone who might have been offended.

Four bidders short-listed for principal works on Divača-Koper track

LJUBLJANA - Four consortia of construction companies respectively led by Slovenian builder Gorenjska Gradbena Družba, Austria's Strabag, Slovenia's Kolektor CPG and Turkish builder Cengiz have qualified for the next round of tendering for principal works on the Divača-Koper rail projects, 2TDK, the company managing the project, reported. 2TDK director Pavel Hevka said complaints were to be expected.

Sava Re management proposing dividend payout amounting to EUR 16.3m

LJUBLJANA - The management of insurer Sava Re has called an AGM for 16 November to decide on a dividend payout although the insurance sector was recommended not to pay out dividends due to Covid-19 uncertainties. In line with the management's proposal, EUR 16.3 million of the distributable profit of EUR 34.7 million would be allocated for dividends, which amounts to EUR 1.05 gross per share. Dividends would thus be 10.5% higher than last year. Sava Re argues current operations show dividends would not harm its solvency despite the uncertainties.

Zorčič acquainted with Slovenian minority issues ahead of Rome visit

LJUBLJANA - Parliamentary Speaker Igor Zorčič received representatives of the Slovenian minority in Italy, who acquainted him in detail with the situation and wishes of the minority ahead of Zorčič's working visit in Rome on Friday, the National Assembly said. The minority representatives would like the new electoral law to secure representation of the Slovenian minority in the Italian parliament in accordance with Article 26 of the minority protection law. The meeting also discussed the need to keep the Slovenian-Italian border open.

New UK ambassador to Slovenia highlights shared values

LJUBLJANA - There are shared values between Slovenia and the UK representing the foundations for efforts to strengthen bilateral ties and tackle global issues together, including climate change and the Covid-19 crisis, the UK's new ambassador to Slovenia Tiffany Sadler has told the STA in an interview. Succeeding Sophie Honey, who served as ambassador from March 2015, Sadler arrived in Slovenia roughly a week ago. As an economist she sees numerous ways to further boost business ties between the two countries, and she considers Slovenia attractive to British businesses including because of its geographical location and educated workforce.

Business and academia team up to demand boost in research funds

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's largest business association has entered a partnership with university chancellors and independent research institutes to urge the government to use EU recovery funds to boost investment in research and development. Presenting their development partnership at a virtual press conference, representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS), Chancellors' Conference and Coordination of Independent Research Institutes called for cooperation at what they said was a critical juncture.

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STA, 14 October 2020 - PM Janez Janša announced additional restrictive measures to contain the spread of coronavirus on Wednesday, including remote learning from the fifth grade of primary school as of Monday, an inter-regional movement ban, limited gatherings, and mandatory masks outdoors in red-listed regions as of Friday.

Janša said that given the latest epidemiological situation, the government had to take additional measures, one of them being activating reserves in the healthcare system.

Another measure will be restricting direct work in schools, meaning that children from the fifth grade of primary school up will continue school remotely as of Monday at least until the autumn holiday, when an evaluation will be made.

The week-long autumn holidays start the last week of October.

The same will apply to secondary schools, and colleges and universities are also urged to do as much work as possible remotely.

As for regional measures, the prime minister said that seven out of the 12 Slovenian statistical regions had already exceeded the threshold of 140 cases per 100,000 residents in a 14-day period.

In these seven red-listed regions, inter-regional movement will be banned, and gatherings capped at 10 persons. Masks will be mandatory outdoors, and certain services activities and sport activities will be cancelled.

These regions are Central Slovenia, Gorenjska, Koroška, Zasavje, Posavje, Savinjska and South-eastern Slovenia.

As for inter-regional travel for red-listed regions, Janša said exceptions would be listed in the relevant decree, including work and basic services.

The government also wants to extend the validity of tourism vouchers beyond their current expiry at the end of 2020, Janša said, and this will be added to the fifth stimulus package, which will be discussed in parliament on Thursday.

"Those who have not spent their vouchers should thus not be afraid that they will not be able to do so in the next year," he added.

Janša added that the government had evaluated the latest epidemiological situation and its possible development to assess that "we are between the orange and red phase" as the number of infections was increasing.

The decree detailing the measures which will enter into force either on Friday or Monday is to be published tomorrow, when relevant ministers will also provide explanations of the measures to the press.

A total of 707 new Sars-CoV-2 cases were confirmed in Slovenia on Tuesday, almost a doubling of Monday's figure and a new record by far, which comes on 4,902 tests, a new high as well. The positivity rate hit a record 14.4%.

Janša also called on citizens who have not downloaded the national contact tracing app to do so, saying that consistent use of the app could help avoid certain restrictive measures.

The prime minister said the government had a plan ready in the event the situation deteriorates further, including formally declaring an epidemic.

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STA, 14 October - Slovenia's reproduction number, showing how many people one infected person will pass the virus on to, has climbed to 1.93, while the epidemic has been spreading with the doubling time of 7.4 days, the Jožef Stefan Institute (IJS) said on Wednesday.

If the number of positive tests for Wednesday, which will be in tomorrow, is lower than 665, the reproduction number will drop somewhat and the doubling time will slightly increase, and if it is higher then the former will increase and the latter decrease.

The IJS has also assessed that the key defence wall preventing the further spreading of the virus, the epidemiological service, is under enormous pressure and is starting to show cracks, which is reflected in the rapid increasing of the reproduction number and the shortening of the doubling time.

The criteria for declaring an epidemic and introducing new measures is having the incidence rate of more than 140, that is infected persons per 100,000 people in 14 days, more than 250 people in hospitals, of whom more than 50 are in intensive care.

The milestone for the incidence rate was exceeded on Friday, while the number of hospitalised Covid-19 patients is expected to top 250 on Saturday and a day later at least 50 people are expected to need intensive care.

If the reproduction number stays the same, the number of daily positive tests will range from 100 to 900 in the future. Currently, the country records 499 new cases a day on average, says on the IJS web site.

If the reproduction number reaches 2, there will be some 600 Covid-19 patients in hospitals at the end of next week, including 100 in intensive care. If these trends continued, there would be 400 patients needing intensive care by 11 November.

A reproduction number of 2.5 would mean 250 people in intensive care units at the beginning of November and soon after that their number would exceed 600, the IJS forecasts.

All our stories on coronavirus and Slovenia

STA, 14 October 2020 - Austria extended on Wednesday border control on its borders with Slovenia and Hungary by another six months, until 11 May 2021. Austria's Interior Minister Karl Nehammer listed migration pressure, safety concerns and Covid-19 as reasons for the move.

Nehammer informed European Commission vice-president Margaritis Schinas, European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson, President of the European Parliament David Sassoli and interior ministers of EU and Schengen zone countries of the move, the Austrian Interior Ministry said in a press release.

Austria introduced border control on Schengen zone's internal borders in 2015 amid a surge in migrations. Germany did the same on its borders with Austria, France, Sweden, Denmark and Norway, which is not an EU member.

Under the Schengen zone rules, reintroducing border control within the Schengen zone is possible for six months in case of a serious threat, and the measure can be extended based on approval from the European Commission.

The current period of Austria's border control would expire on 11 November.

Slovenia has been protesting against Austria's border checks, arguing that the external border of the Schengen zone was well protected by Slovenia.

All our stories on coronavirus and Slovenia

STA, 14 October 2020 - There are shared values between Slovenia and the UK representing the foundations for efforts to strengthen bilateral ties and tackle global issues together, including climate change and the Covid-19 crisis, the UK's new ambassador to Slovenia Tiffany Sadler has told the STA in an interview. 

Succeeding Sophie Honey, who served as ambassador from March 2015, Sadler arrived in Slovenia roughly a week ago and presented her credentials to President Borut Pahor last Thursday.

She has spent a year learning the Slovenian language and is looking forward to finally putting her new skills to use.

Z današnjim dnem tudi uradno pričenjam s svojim delom kot britanska veleposlanica v Sloveniji. ??&?? imata bogato zgodovino prijateljstva in sodelovanja - moja iskrena želja je ta odnos še poglobiti. Se še kako veselim ☺️ #SloUKFriendship #VeseloNaDelo. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/9Nhw3orUEO

— Tiffany Sadler (@TiffanySadlerUK) October 8, 2020

"There are real shared values between Slovenia and Britain; I find that people think in the same way, that they care about the same things, be it the environment, democracy, freedom of the media, the rule of law," she summed up her first impressions.

As an economist she sees numerous ways to further boost business ties between the two countries, and she also believes that the UK and Slovenia could tackle global issues together, most notably climate change and Covid-19.

Next year will provide many opportunities for such cooperation since Slovenia will chair the EU Council in the second half of 2021, whereas the UK will chair the G7 and host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference.

"Despite these very uncertain times, I think next year will be a historic opportunity to work together to make progress and support each other on these global issues," she told the STA.

Sadler also sees opportunities and challenges for bilateral relations in Brexit. "A lot of the work that might previously have been done in Brussels will now be done bilaterally and here at the embassy. For me, this is an opportunity to build new dimensions to the relationship between our countries."

A deal between the UK and the EU seems increasingly unlikely by the end of the year when the transition period comes to an end.

"We want an agreement with the EU, but not at any cost," the ambassador said, highlighting that the deal was necessary, however it should be in line with what the British voted for in the referendum.

Regardless of the outcome of the negotiations, the ambassador will strive to make life easier for entrepreneurs and companies as well as people in general, and to boost trade and investment.

Sadler considers Slovenia attractive to British businesses including because of its geographical location and educated workforce.

There are strong political, business and cultural ties between Slovenia and the UK, she said, adding that she had been in contact with the new Slovenian ambassador to the UK Simona Leskovar and the pair had agreed to work on future visits when possible.

Sadler also believes that the UK will remain an attractive destination for Slovenian students after Brexit. For those already studying in the UK, the conditions will remain the same, for others there will be certain changes.

The embassy will run an online campaign with the British Council this month to present UK universities and the new conditions to future students.

She is also optimistic when it comes to cultural cooperation despite Covid-19, noting artists' ingenuity and the support of the British Council.

Sadler sees similarities and differences regarding anti-corona measures in both countries. "I think all governments are looking at each other and learning," she said, adding that face masks are more fun in Slovenia. "Perhaps this reflects the Slovenian artistic feeling."

Cooperation between Slovenia and the UK in medical research is also key. It was already strong before the pandemic, Sadler said. According to the British embassy, 40% of Slovenian publications in scientific journals have been co-authored with Brits.

Pointing to the silver linings of Covid-19, she hopes that the crisis has stressed the importance of science and the fight against climate change. "Hopefully, a lot of investment will go green."

STA, 14 October 2020 - A total of 707 new Sars-CoV-2 cases were confirmed in Slovenia on Tuesday, almost a doubling of Monday's figure and a new record by far, which comes on 4,902 tests conducted, a new high as well as the positivity rate hit a record 14.4%, government data show.

According to him, Slovenia's incidence rate, a key EU-wide indicator that shows the number of infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days, has increased to 202.75 from 178.91 the previous day.

Covid-19 claimed two more lives, increasing Slovenia's death toll related to the disease to 175.

This was as the number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals increased by 30 to 210 despite 17 being discharged. As many as 35 patients, four more than the day before, now require intensive treatment.

Data from tracker site Covid-19.sledilnik.org shows that Slovenia has currently 4,248 active infections out of a total of 9,938 coronavirus cases confirmed so far.

Kacin said the outbreak was spreading at care homes with several aged-care facilities across the country reporting new infections.

Data from the tracker site indicate that a total of 15 new infections were recorded among care home residents and another 4 among staff, as well as 45 new infections among healthcare staff.

Matjaž Jereb, head of the intensive care unit at the Department of Infectious Diseases at the UKC Ljubljana hospital, said the estimate was that one out of every 150 Slovenians was infected.

He warned that hospitals were running out of intensive care beds, and in particular qualified staff to care for the critically ill.

"Ten percent of Covid-19 require hospitalisation and 20% of those intensive care," he said, projecting that out of 700 plus cases confirmed yesterday 70 will need hospital treatment and 15 of them intensive care in ten days.

He described intensive care units as a "bottleneck", considering those patients require intensive treatment for two weeks and longer.

"We have 16 critically ill at our [Covid-19] unit in Ljubljana who require mechanical support and ventilators (...) no one is immune, we have a 42-year-old patient without serious underlying conditions," said Jereb.

Asked about potential measures, including regional lockdowns, Kacin said lockdowns would depend on the region's incidence. "Seven regions are now red and three are still yellow," he said as an indication of what the the government may be expected to decide.

The worst affected region at the moment is now Gorenjska in the north-west with 266 infections per 100,000 residents over the past fortnight.

Six more are above the 140 limit, one of the threshold factors between phase orange and red, which triggers the declaration of epidemic and harshest restrictions.

Marija Magajna, acting director of the Healthcare Inspectorate, said that a decree has been drawn up to suspend some of the health services, announcing that preventive activities would be suspended first, but with a series of exceptions such as those concerning children and youth and cancer screening programmes.

Suspension or delay of non-urgent hospital services would depend on how many beds and other capacities need to be adapted to take Covid-19 patients.

Measures have also been drawn up to reduce the scope for coronavirus transmissions inside health institutions with Magajna indicating that the providers would need to monitor the health condition of their employees.

Covid-19 tracker site data show that 100 of the latest cases were confirmed in Ljubljana, which has now 698 active infections for a per capita infection rate of 0.237.

A further 38 cases were recorded in Kranj in the north-west, which has 173 active infections for an infection rate of 0.305%. But several smaller municipalities have much higher rates, the hardest-hit remaining Črna na Koroškem with 0.853%.

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