The cookbook Cook Eat Slovenia has won two awards at one of the world's most prestigious cookbook competitions, known as the "Oscars" of gastronomic literature.

This book on traditional Slovenian recipes was written by Špela Vodovc and published in English. The selection of recipes presented in the book has been used in her family for many generations and honors her family heritage and traditional Slovenian cuisine. Her dream was to help the world discover Slovenian foods. The dream of sharing these recipes with the world and allowing people to explore Slovenian culture through its cuisine was the driving force behind the project.

The book was published at the end of 2019, following a successful campaign on Kickstarter, and reviewed here The author then entered the world’s biggest cookbook event, the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, and made the finals in three categories: best cookbook in translation, best self-published cookbook and best cookbook focused on food tourism (countries & regions), which made it the winner for Slovenia in all three categories.

The award announcement ceremony was meant to take place in early June in Paris at the World Cookbook Fair but this has been rescheduled due to the current crisis. For the first time since 1995, when the culinary Oscars first took place, the organisers thus announced the winners prior to the main ceremony. Out of books from 225 countries and regions, Špela Vodovc’s debut, titled Cook Eat Slovenia, ranked among the top three in the world, with 2^nd place in the category of “food tourism (countries & regions)” and 3^rd place in the category of “self-published.”

The book will lead to the wider recognition of traditional Slovenian dishes around the world and entice travelers to visit Slovenia, especially with next year seeing the country become an official European Region of Gastronomy.

You can purchase the Cook Eat Slovenia cookbook here, and take a look at some of the recipes shared from the book below:

Tarragon Potica

Easter Breakfast - Velikonočni Zajtrk

Three Kinds of Slovenian Easter Eggs

Potato and Pasta, or Grenadirmarš

STA, 21 April 2020 - Slovenia's leading telecommunication providers are all opening shop again this week to join a number of retailers and other services providers that reopened on Monday after five weeks of coronavirus lockdown.

Telemach already started reopening its shops on Monday, AI Slovenija opened all of them today, T-2 plans a gradual reopening starting Wednesday, while Telekom Slovenije is to start welcoming customers at its major centres on Thursday after it has already opened some of its smaller branch offices.

All the providers stressed they would implement protective measures, including by reserving the first and final business hours for vulnerable groups.

In a major sign of the easing of the coronavirus epidemic and the lockdown restrictions associated with it, DIY stores, car showrooms, stores selling bicycles, technical goods and furniture, dry cleaners and some repair shops, including tyre replacement shops, are resuming their operations this week.

As a growing number of businesses reopen, passenger transport organised by business subjects or local communities to bring employees to work and back has been allowed too.

However, protective measures remain in force for all stores, including the obligatory wearing of masks or some other face coverings, hand sanitising, airing of premises and allowing 20 square metres per customer.

The government imposed a temporary ban on most retail establishments in mid March to contain the coronavirus epidemic.

Only grocery stores, pharmacies, banks, post offices, petrol stations, news stands and stores selling agricultural products remained open until pet food shops were added to the exemptions from 21 March and florist shops and nurseries from 3 April, along with construction works not involving contacts with customers.

Yet more services will be available from 4 May, with the reopening of hair salons, beauty parlours, dog and cat grooming salons and shops of up to 400 m2 sales space, except for those in shopping centres.

Ljubljana University planning exit strategy, lowering credit points threshold

STA, 21 April 2020 - The senate of the University of Ljubljana has called on its members to adjust the conditions required for students to advance to their next year of studies given that the teaching process has been disrupted despite a successful switch to remote learning. While the plan is to continue with remote classes, an exit strategy is in the making.

University of Ljubljana Chancellor Igor Papič told the STA on Tuesday that along with enabling students to advance normally by lowering the credit points threshold, it was equally important that students do not lose the chance to enrol again in the same year, as the loss of student status would affect their social situation.

He explained that the plan was to continue with remote classes also after 3 May where only possible, so that students are not exposed to risk unnecessarily.

Laboratory classes present an issue that will be hard to solve until restrictions are lifted, while another pending problem are the approaching summer exams that are taken by over 100 students simultaneously.

The faculties that are part of Slovenia's largest and oldest university have however been urged to prepare for a gradual lifting of restrictions, and Papič announced an exit strategy would be drawn up.

He meanwhile assessed the remote learning system that has been set up as successful, allowing around 85% of the programme to be covered. Also running successfully are oral defences of dissertations, with over 130 conducted remotely so far.

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:

If you're learning Slovenian then you can find all our dual texts here

All our stories on coronavirus are here, while those covering covid-19 and Croatia are here. We'll have an update at the end of the day, and if you want newsflashes then we'll post those on Facebook

We can’t have pictures of COVID-19 every day. So instead we’ll try and show the works of Slovenian artists. Today it’s Aleksander Sandi. You can see more of his work here.

Contents

Coronavirus case count up by nine, no new fatalities

Two new checkpoints open on border with Italy

Committee hears care homes understaffed, residents very stressed

Taiwan donates 150,000 masks

PPE supplies a major headache for authorities

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Coronavirus case count up by nine, no new fatalities

STA, 21 April - Slovenia's official tally of coronavirus cases rose by nine on Monday, bringing the total number of cases so far confirmed to 1,344. No new fatalities have been reported, leaving the death toll unchanged at 77.

Fresh data from the government show that 87 Covid-19 patients were in hospital on Monday, the lowest number since 24 March. Of those, 25 were treated in intensive care, the lowest figure since 29 March.

Four more people have been discharged from hospital, which means 197 Covid-19 patients have so far returned home from hospital.

A total of 1,174 tests were performed on Monday, more than twice as many as the day before. Hence the increase in the number of new cases compared to five on Sunday.

So far a total of 42,976 tests have been conducted in the country.

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Two new checkpoints open on border with Italy

STA, 21 April - While the majority of roads on the border between Slovenia and Italy remain blocked to contain the spread of coronavirus, a new entry point, Predel, opened on Tuesday. Citizens can cross the border using a special certificate. Another border check point will be set up at Rateče on Wednesday.

Both points, facilitating daily migrations between Italy and Slovenia, will be open on all days except Sundays and holidays, from 6am to 9am and from 3pm to 6pm. Outside those time slots, the roads will be blocked.

The authorities have thus responded to the calls for a partial reopening of the border to enable daily cross-border migrations in the north-west of Slovenia, which had been issued by local communities and mayors of both Bovec and Kranjska Gora.

So far, the closest check point between Italy and Slovenia has been Robič, situated more than 30 kilometres from Bovec.

Apart from daily migrants, other citizens in need of taking care of urgent business activities can also cross the border provided they have ID and the relevant permit, which is issued by a local authority.

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Committee hears care homes understaffed, residents very stressed

STA, 21 April - The parliamentary Health Committee started debating the situation in nursing homes, which has become very complex in the face of the Covid-19 epidemic. The session, requested by the opposition Left, heard demands for more staff from trade unions and care home organisations before being suspended until tomorrow.

 The hours-long discussion heard that care homes are understaffed, while most residents are completely dependent on others' help. The debate also heard that the average age of employees is high and that many residents suffer severe stress because they had been cut off from their families for more than a month.

The understaffing issues became more severe after schools were shut down because the care homes lost students and interns, and volunteers also had to leave due to the shortage of protective equipment. Family members were also of great help, said Biserka Marolt Meden, head of Srebrna Nit, an association promoting dignified old age.

Marolt Meden said that it was up to the Health Ministry to change things. Health Minister Tomaž Gantar admitted that the situation was critical after years of understaffing and lack of funds, but said the ministry was doing everything it could.

He denied allegations that residents do not get appropriate care. "Entire homes cannot be moved to hospitals. Patients who need hospital care are moved," he said in response to the Left's demand that all retirement home residents with Covid-19 be hospitalised.

He was also critical of Tomislav Nemec, the director of the Ljutomer retirement home, which has been hit the worst of all. Gantar said the home did not ban visitors in time, while the nearby Murska Sobota hospital had complained that Nemec was impossible to work with.

Alenka Trop Skaza of the Celje office of the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) said that apart from work overload issues for staff, many residents suffer severe stress because they had not seen their families in weeks.

"The elderly cannot understand why their families do not come and visit," she said, describing a case in which the staff could only just prevent a suicide. Moreover, dementia patients in retirement are in great stress when they need to be swabbed for Covid-19 testing.

The committee will convene again tomorrow afternoon to vote on several resolutions proposed by the Left. Apart from hospitalisation of all Covid-19 patients in retirement homes, the party also wants an increased volume of testing for residents and more funds for retirement homes in general.

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Taiwan donates 150,000 masks

STA, 21 April - Taiwan has donated 150,000 surgical masks to Slovenia. The donation was handed over to Slovenia's Civil Protection in Austria's Vienna on Tuesday by Taiwan's representation in Austria. The Administration for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief thanked Taiwan in a tweet.

At the beginning of the month, Taiwan donated ten million protective masks to the countries hit hardest by the global coronavirus pandemic. Soon after, it said it would donate another six million masks to countries in northern, central and southern Europe.

Taiwan's representative in Vienna Vanessa Shih said that the pandemic is affecting all countries in the world and that her country wants to help its friends.

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PPE supplies a major headache for authorities

STA, 21 April - The government coronavirus spokesman Jelko Kacin has announced measures to deal with the problem of faulty supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) as criticism is mounting among opposition parties and the public.

 The issue was discussed at the coronavirus press briefing on Tuesday following news reports questioning the cost and suitability of supplies, and alleged ties between suppliers and government officials.

Kacin said that the government would provide explanations about concrete measures to prevent errors in the coming days.

Meanwhile, Srečko Šestan, Slovenia's Civil Protection commander, said the equipment that the recipients were unhappy with was being replaced and their complaints were being addressed.

Representatives of the Civil Protection and Disaster Relief Administration and the UKC Ljubljana hospital are involved in the examination of the bids made by PPE suppliers.

They check the goods offered, supply terms and whether the equipment has all the required certificates. If the offered goods are suitable on paper, the bids are referred to the Agency for Commodity Reserves.

The agency is responsible for closing the contracts, price negotiations and for examining the quality and quantity of the supplies. The Civil Protection does not check the goods again but only accepts the supplies and distributes them.

"Once the equipment has been supplied and if the mask offered was FFP2, but what actually arrives is a surgical mask, this is a matter of receipt and complaint," said Šestan.

Most of the problems so far have involved the supplied equipment not complying with what has been ordered or offered.

Such a problem appears to have been in the case of the supply by Public Digital Infrastructure, a company owned by the gaming machines businessman Joc Pečečnik.

The Agency for Commodity Reserves had ordered FFP2-type masks from him, but the newspaper Dnevnik and commercial broadcaster POP TV reported the company actually supplied mislabelled ordinary surgical masks.

Šestan also noted complaints over unsuitable protective gowns supplied to the Šmarje pri Jelšah care home and Izola hospital, and ordinary paper napkin masks turned back by some local communities.

"Today we're being returned a shipment of 2,500 masks from the Begunje psychiatric hospital which we're going to replace," said the official.

If the returned equipment is found to be faulty, it will "probably be destroyed", if it proves suitable, it will be sent back.

A meeting over the issue of complaints was planned today with the Agency for Commodity Reserves, and extra experts are being sought to help them examine hundreds of bids for new supplies.

Police paid a visit to the agency today over suspicion of irregularities regarding PPE deals, explaining they were "checking various pieces of information".

It is not clear however whether the government dismissed the agency's director Anton Zakrajšek, but Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek is to speak about it after the government's session later today.

PPE supplies have been causing problems from the start as a major planned supply failed to arrive, with new incidents reported almost on a daily basis. The opposition has demanded a parliamentary inquiry to look into the matter.

Dnevnik today reported that the contract with Pečečnik's company also included 400,000 protective goggles, thirteen times the number of all health care staff in the country, and at three times the supply price too.

The newspaper Finance raised issue over a EUR 1.8 million contract on the supply for surgical masks with SLA Marketing from the town of Destrnik "which has generated little revenue in recent years, does not even have a publicly available telephone number and whose ownership can be traced via Slovakia to Wyoming, US".

The news portal 24ur reports that while the state has paid Pečečnik 50 cents for a certified surgical mask, it has paid more than 20 cents for a "paper" mask, a reference to the EUR 860,000 paid to two companies for just over a million masks made of a special type of cellulose called air-laid.

The portal reports that the person in charge of sales at one of those, Korez Sorting, is the boss's wife who is a tax debtor and one of the persons accused for a hacking attack on port operator Luka Koper and two other companies two years ago. Two of the defendants pleaded guilty in the case a month ago.

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I finished my last article about three weeks ago with a relatively upbeat message, ‘We’re all in this together’, meaning we are all in the same boat. However, as the weeks progress into an increasingly unknown future, I realise that we are in very, very different boats indeed.

I started by reassuring myself with this Churchillian mantra, but now that the initial fog has cleared, I am observing first hand that we are all in very different boats on a scale ranging from a blissful, relaxed euphoria through to a lonely pinnacle of rising fear and angst, and the curve is the inverse of the traditional Gaussian Distribution curve.

Here in Slovenia, many people are employed and from what I hear, rather enjoying working from home, or they are bumbling along on their pension, living above or below their extended families, and whiling away quality time in the garden, or allotment with family. As my landlady said when it all started, ‘It’s not going to affect us.’ - and it hasn’t.

However, I know several families living the dream life – the successful, but workaholic husbands now garrisoned at home; the wives, gleefully swapping their crowded waiting rooms or tedious working days for woodland walks with the dog, finally having the time to show off innate cooking skills to an appreciative family; children, home from university are studying in domestic and gastronomic comfort, and working out in the garden to counteract the excesses of the kitchen. Bliss.

So in this most glorious Corona spring, when the sun always shines, the more fortunate can relax in their flower- filled gardens with the added comfort of knowing that there is a regular salary coming in.

Another fortunate Slovenian friend lives in a similar abode complete with all the external accoutrements of above, in the congenial company of her two twenty-something children and her buck-toothed, boss-eyed, but exceedingly friendly Jack Russell. All three humans are working from home, with ample space to carouse in the garden or work peacefully in the spacious confines of their five-bedroom home.

Fast-forward to the other end of the curve, where many are most definitely not living in such familial bliss. They inhabit cramped flats with no balconies, and worse still, some have no option but to co-habit with an obnoxious other half, vying for TV channels, and generally messing things up - or worse! This situation can also be exacerbated by having hyperactive children around to monitor . The attention seeking child doesn’t take kindly to being educated by a face on a screen with no audience other than the family cat. Whether working from home or with no work, in small confines the tensions are building. The only saving grace, in Slovenia, is the relative proximity of the parks, the river and the abundance of glorious greenery. Compare all this lush nature to the average Londoner’s concrete jungle, living in similar flat, with the added worry of a zero-hour contract.

They struggle miles on foot to get some rays on Primrose Hill or Hampstead Heath, before being brusquely moved on by overzealous police wearing masks. Gardens are a rarity in Inner London and parks and woodland scarce. The main reason I chose my London flat was for its long ample garden, and the unimpeded view of nearby Highgate Woods.

In fact, this article was prompted by an email from a semi-retired journalist friend, who wrote unabashedly ‘life has never been better’. She can scribble her weekly column in her gazebo in their vast flower-strewn garden, while her retired husband refines his already excellent culinary skills. She didn’t mention her newly-wed daughter and her husband who are in the ranks of the self-employed, a yoga instructor and a chef respectively, both now living with future dreams on fragile hold for the very uncertain future. Very different boats indeed.

Having lived overseas for the last 13 years, I am still in touch with friends in Asia and Central America, and they are in even less comfortable boats. In an ironical twist, as Europe and the UK once stigmatised innocent Asians in the run-up to the crisis, Viet friends, encouraged by their government propaganda, wholeheartedly blame the virus on the travelling Westerners, and in China, my very petite blonde Australian friend currently working as a School Principal tells me that despite her ’COVID free badge’, mask, gloves and her 21-day quarantine pass, she is treated like a white devil. Chinese mothers pick up their children and literally flee when they see her blonde locks, restaurants refuse her entry – and people in shops, look at her over their compulsory issue masks with cold, untrusting eyes and give her a very wide berth.

Masks are compulsory at all times – and in Vietnam, as in many other Asian countries, they have a natural affinity for masks. Reports from Vietnamese friends say they that although they are working from home, masks are worn at all times – I didn’t ask about bedtime. There are no motorbike taxis or car taxis, and large hotels and markets are shut. Many have lost their jobs.

Meanwhile in Spain, my old schoolfriend is entrapped in her mountain village and is currently dogless, therefore her exercise is limited to the 200-metre walk from her home in the centre to the nearest food and wine shops – a 600 Euro fine awaits anyone who is found exploiting the rule. Her 85-year-old Scottish mother died two weeks ago, alone in a hospital in Scotland of an unrelated infection, possibly exacerbated by fear. For the last four days of her life, she relied on an iPad and daily 15 minute visits from her other daughter,clad from head to foot in a hazard suit, forbidden to touch. My friend in Spain at least has the small solace of a garden, where she is grieving alone, without any sense of closure, and trying to plan a memorial service in the unforeseen future.

Meanwhile, in Istanbul, a hyperactive party- going Australian couple, aged 63 and 65 respectively, working as teachers and energetically living a second, but childfree youth, are forbidden to leave their homes,full stop. Despite a small balcony and a 40-year marriage, they are becoming increasingly unamused and after two weeks, are already showing severe symptoms of Cabin Fever manifesting in 3 kg weight increases and an unhealthy addiction to Quiz Planet, as the lady of the house tries to elevate her starting score of zero to 21,000 before the lockdown is over. Turkey is in flux, and the once crowded streets are spookily empty, Erdogan from his 1000 roomed palace in Ankara, has sent one of his national emergency texts ( to everyone) asking the population to contribute 10 TL ( 3 Euros) to a Corona fund.

Looking further afield to Nicaragua, the situation is even more grim – with practically no direction from their government, other than some ‘Peace and Love ‘ rally in the capital, and the divine message that along with Americans, Nicaraguans will not get affected.

 My Yorkshire Oxford-educated friend, the founder of a language school and a charity that provides hands-on work for 80% of the impoverished village where she lives, located in the shadow of the virulent Massaya volcano. She tells me that news is being passed from door to door by groups of five or six police together with a handful of civil servants, all standing in perilous clusters. They are distributing COVID pamphlets on the importance of washing your hands thoroughly and often. The same pamphlet also explains the need to reduce their weekly water ration from 2 barrels of water to one and a half barrels. This ration is per household, and that usually equates to at least six people. The water is used to wash, cook, wash their clothes and to drink. Toilets are usually outdoor latrines, so flushing is not a problem for most. Very few people are on the streets, and most pulperia (small shops) have had to close. And to date, there has been no word of government assistance or even guidance, as the village limps to a gloom laden standstill.

Then there is another boat where you sail these uncharted waters alone, and for many elderly without the ‘company’ of social media, and the physical security of a family this is very scary – alone and listening to the spurious daily statistics spewed willy nilly all over the global media; meaningless to those who understand statistics and positively terrifying for those who don’t – and with no one close by to share their fears.

Even for the less elderly, this enforced social distancing is difficult – mentally and emotionally, and I, for one have wearied of the endless ‘jokes’ on WhatsApp and unsubstantiated rants by the uninitiated on social media.I yearn for the close physical comfort of old friends, even a distanced bike ride or a glass of wine would be good, but then again, I fear my self, all my suppressed fears and emotions may come belching out in an unstoppable tirade......

Daily, I have to remind myself that I am not living in fear of snipers, bombs or starvation, I have a roof over my head and at present, I am healthy – plus, I live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world close to the river and nature. I am very lucky.

In response to the copiously asked daily question from well-meaning friends of ‘How are you?’ I answer robotically ‘Up and down, how are you?’ Maybe I should answer truthfully. ‘I don’t know!’

STA, 21 April 2020 - Slovenian researchers are believed to be the first to have proved the existence of abundant plant viruses in wastewater that remain infective after conventional wastewater treatment, which means they can infect plants and cause disease when released into the environment.

The latest achievement by researchers of the National Institute of Biology's Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology has been published in Water Research, a journal of the International Water Association that publishes research on the science and technology of water quality and its management.

The scientists note that presence of plant, animal and human viruses in water is a major risk when wastewater is recycled for example for watering plants, a practice applied extensively in many parts of the world.

The release of viruses into rivers may lead to viral transmission if the river water is used for irrigation or if the viruses find a new host such as plants growing near the water.

Considering new findings about the great diversity of viruses in water and their infectivity the Ljubljana-based institute says that effective methods are needed to monitor the presence of pathogenic viruses in water.

The institute has been researching viruses in various water samples for years and is currently focusing on detecting the novel coronavirus in wastewater.

Katarina Bačnik, the lead author of the article published in Water Research, says that plant viruses, that is those that cause disease in plants, are present both when wastewater enters a purifying plant as well as when it is released into a nearby river.

Applying viral concentration technology with the help of purification media made by the Slovenian company BIA Separations and the sequencing of viral nucleic acids, the researchers detected 47 different types of plant viruses, including those not previously reported in Slovenia.

They also proved their infectivity, that is the ability to infect plants both before and after passing through the purifying plant as the plants infected with wastewater showed signs of disease.

Although the study focused on plant viruses, the researchers also detected in wastewater samples the presence of bacteriophages (viruses that infect and replicate within bacteria) and some human viruses that cause gastrointestinal diseases.

Maja Ravnikar, the head of the Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology at the National Institute of Biology, says that, at the time when virus has become an everyday word, it has become even more obvious how little humanity knows about viruses and how important it is to study them.

The research had been conducted under the leadership of Maja Ravnikar, with young researcher Katarina Bačnik as the lead author and also involving Denis Kutnjak, Ion Gutierrez Aguirre, Nataša Mehle, Anja Pecman and Magda Tušek Žnidarič.

Apart from research project and programme financiers, the study was also supported by the Domžale-Kamnik central purifying plant, a long-term partner of the National Institute of Biology, which collected wastewater samples.

The article is available at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043135420301640?via%3Dihub.

STA, 20 April 2020 - As a string of retail and services establishments reopened on Monday the demand for the services was not excessive. It was quite busy at tyre replacement shops but not as busy as expected, the Slovenian Automobile Association (AMZS) said. The Chamber of Craft and Small Business (OZS) would like bars and restaurants to reopen on 15 May.

Today DIY stores, car showrooms, stores selling bicycles, technical goods and furniture, dry cleaners and some repair shops, including tyre replacement shops resumed their operations after being shut down for five weeks.

Jurij Kočar of the AMZS said that because of high demand for such services working hours would be extended somewhat in the next few days.

Vehicle inspection stations were full of customers this morning but then the situation calmed down. Bogdan Poljanšek, who is in charge of insurance, vehicle inspection and registration at the AMZS, said drivers seem to have considered the fact that registration documents will not expire until 16 June.

Avtotehna Vis said its car salons opened their door today but were not crowded.

In contrast, DIY store Bauhaus saw an exceptional turnout, but CEO Samo Kupljen said this had been expected. "That's why we increased our sales teams," he said.

The government closed all shops bar grocery stores, pharmacies, banks, post offices, petrol stations, newsstands and stores selling agricultural products on 16 March. Pet food shops reopened on 21 March and florist shops and nurseries on 3 April.

Yet more services will be available from 4 May, with the reopening of hair salons, beauty parlours, dog and cat grooming salons and shops of up to 400 m2 sales space, except for those in shopping centres.

Further easing of measures is expected after the results are in of a comprehensive random testing of the population for coronavirus starting today.

The OZS is pushing for the reopening of bars and restaurants as of 15 May, following Austria's example. All activities would have to be conducted in line with health recommendations, it added.

"Since the season allows this, we would provide for additional safety of guests and staff by serving guests outdoors, on terraces," Blaž Cvar of the OZS said in a press release.

The hospitality sector will be particularly affected by the epidemic and the recovery will be lengthy, the OZS said, proposing extension of state measures for the sector for the next six months and cutting the VAT rate on beverages.

STA, 20 April 2020 - Ultralight aircraft maker Pipistrel has started developing cargo aircraft, a sort of a flying van, and a hydrogen-powered passenger shuttle, the company's CEO and founder Ivo Boscarol has said after the aviation authorities rescheduled the launch of its flying taxis.

An extended deadline for the development of flying taxis, commissioned by US ride-hailing company Uber, has enabled the Ajdovščina-based Pipistrel to start working on the planned freighter.

Meanwhile, the hydrogen-powered jet for 19 passengers would be intended mainly for transport between cities, for example from Maribor to Zagreb, said Boscarol.

"Currently, there are no such transports, only on roads. That is one of niche markets and the company has started working on its conceptual development," he told the press a few days ago.

Apart from a spacious facility, manufacturing the shuttles would require vast electricity capacities - the planes would be thus made in Italy, a more ideal setting than Ajdovščina, since all the required conditions are met there, he added.

The development of flying taxis for Uber has slowed down due to a "more conservative approach to using such aircraft" taken by international aviation authorities.

The taxis are supposed to be flying mainly above cities, which are considered a challenging ecosystem. The authorities have hence postponed using such vessels until the end of this decade.

As a result, Pipistrel has somewhat shifted its focus to developing a similar aircraft designed to transport cargo, an electricity-powered flying van that is supposed to fly above smaller cities.

Boscarol believes that the freighter will be launched prior to the Uber taxi.

Meanwhile, the company's investments in new plants in China and Italy have been brought to a standstill. The project in China saw zero activity in the past four months, with the investment estimated to be two years behind schedule.

On the other hand, the first phase of the investment in expanding manufacturing capacities at Gorizia Airport is completed, but the company has been deliberately moving slowly to see what happens with the airport.

"The airport was operating for a while, but it's closed now. We can fly in Slovenia, so we fly here now. The company is lucky to have two locations at its disposal," said Boscarol.

The plant in the making near the Slovenian-Italian border is meant to be for producing drones and bigger aircraft.

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:

If you're learning Slovenian then you can find all our dual texts here

All our stories on coronavirus are here, while those covering covid-19 and Croatia are here. We'll have an update at the end of the day, and if you want newsflashes then we'll post those on Facebook

We can’t have pictures of COVID-19 every day. So instead we’ll try and show the works of Slovenian artists. Today it’s Daša Šeruga, with one of a series of posters from Tam Tam, as seen here.

Contents

Three more die of Covid-19, bringing national death toll to 77

Gradual return to sports accompanied by extensive warnings

Fines issued due to lockdown violations totalling EUR 32,000

Latest estimates value second stimulus package at EUR 2.8bn

Three more die of Covid-19, bringing national death toll to 77

STA, 20 April 2020 - Three more Covid-19 patients died in Slovenia on Sunday, bringing the official national death toll 77. Only five new coronavirus cases have been confirmed, raising the tally to 1,335, fresh data from the government show.

The number of new cases as a rule drops at weekends because fewer people are tested, but the country has been seeing a steady decline in new cases for a while now.

On Sunday, 537 tests were performed, which brings the total of tests so far conducted in the country to 41,802.

A total of 88 Covid-patients were being treated in hospitals on Sunday, 26 of them in intensive care units. One was discharged from hospital, which means 193 Covid-19 patients have so far returned home from hospital.

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Gradual return to sports accompanied by extensive warnings

STA, 20 April 2020 - A limited number of outdoor sports facilities, including tennis courts, golf courses and bowls pitches, were reopened for use as part of a softening of lockdown measures on Monday. Extensive safety instructions accompanying the return to sports however also reveal the impact the virus will have for some time to come.

While group sports remain forbidden, the new coronavirus reality will also leave a strong mark on individual sports that seem risk-free at first glance.

One of the more detailed safety lists, containing many of the measures also advised for other sports, has been published by the Tennis Association, which stressed that persons noticing any signs of infection still need to stay from courts and that these are only open for recreational purposes.

Changing rooms and locker rooms will be closed, while the players are also advised against changing their shirts during or after the match.

Toilets will be closed in case the provider cannot secure regular disinfection, states the association's safety list, which consists of 34 items in total.

No doubles matches are allowed and crossing over to the opponent's side to check the validity of a close call on what are mostly red clay tennis courts in Slovenia is strongly discouraged as well.

Another issue that implies more work for tennis club owners is posed by the cleaning of the court after a match, as players are no longer allowed to touch the nets used to even out the clay surface. The restriction applies to all court maintenance equipment.

Litter bins and loitering at the club house are off limits, while special post-match care also applies to the balls, which should be left in the container for 72 hours.

Finally, players will have to make do without one of the key rituals of the sport, the post-game handshake.

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Fines issued due to lockdown violations totalling EUR 32,000

STA, 20 April 2020 - The Health Inspectorate has launched more than 2,900 procedures and issued fines worth more than EUR 32,000 to people breaking the restrictions in place to slow down the coronavirus epidemic in Slovenia. It received over 110 reports of suspected violations directly from individuals and many more from the police.

The health inspection service has been cooperating with the police in enforcing the decrees on lockdown measures and performing field inspections.

During the epidemic, the inspectorate is the only authority that may initiate procedures and issue fines for violations of movement restrictions and the gathering ban.

The cases processed so far have been mostly referred to the inspectorate by the police and involved individuals. Almost 300 fines have been issued, totalling more than EUR 32,000, the health authority told the STA on Monday.

Over the weekend, the police received a total of 199 reports of alleged violations. Moreover, police officers reported 571 violations themselves on Saturday and Sunday, giving 513 warnings and referring 661 cases to the inspectorate, show police data. Most violations occurred in the Ljubljana and Celje areas.

The police have so far received 1,825 reports and determined more than 5,860 violations by itself, issuing almost 3,970 warnings and referring some 4,820 cases to the health inspection service, including 58 violations of the protection of public order act.

To stem the COVID-19 spread, the government has imposed a number of lockdown measures, including a ban on movement outside one's municipal unit. Since Saturday, the restriction has been eased to a certain degree, allowing maintenance and seasonal works at private properties in other municipalities.

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Latest estimates value second stimulus package at EUR 2.8bn

STA, 20 April - Coming out of Monday's coordination meeting for the emerging new coronavirus emergency package, coalition members explained the current total value of the envisaged measures, focusing on securing liquidity for businesses, was EUR 2.8 billion.

Reports on the liquidity measures, coming after a EUR 3 billion stimulus package seeking to prevent job loss and protect vulnerable groups, so far mentioned EUR 900 million to be given at the disposal of companies in the form of loans, guarantees and guarantee schemes. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) spoke of EUR 2 billion in one statement.

The coalition discussed today changes to the first package and the new stimulus, both of which the government hopes to finalise today and on Tuesday and have ready for adoption in parliament on 28 and 29 April.

The deputy group head of the senior coalition Democrats (SDS) Danijel Krivec also announced a third package today saying "it will seek to kickstart growth while the measures will secure investment in infrastructure and might also include additional measures for tourism".

The Agriculture Ministry said today the third package was also to include measures for the agriculture and food sector, primarily focussing on new investment, plant production and boosting food self-sufficiency.

Coalition partners were mostly content today with the degree to which their proposals had been incorporated into the new package, but many raised the issue of tourism, which is likely to continue to struggle even after other sectors pick up.

Janja Sluga of the Modern Centre Party (SMC) said tourism should be approached "in a more comprehensive matter". She meanwhile also suggested not enough had been done for self-employed culture workers.

Still being coordinated are provisions laying down the extent to which loans taken out by companies to bridge the crisis are to be covered with state guarantees.

Franc Jurša of the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) revealed that small companies would probably get 80% guarantee coverage and large companies 70%.

Coalition parties can still forward their proposals to the government today to be studied by government task forces. The government is expected to endorse amendments to the first corona package and the draft second corona bill on Tuesday, so they could be discussed by the parliamentary finance committee on Friday or Saturday. The motions should be put up for a vote in parliament on 28 and 29 April.

The part of the opposition which was critical of the first corona epidemic legislative package is displeased with the draft second package as well.

MPs of the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ), Social Democrats (SD) and the Left pointed to the "still forgotten groups of citizens" and unclarity about state guarantees.

Brane Golubović of the LMŠ said the package did not bring solutions for the most problematic sector - the hospitality and tourism sector. He also wants to know whether the EUR 2 billion in planned state guarantees included those planned for the Koper-Divača rail project, the housing scheme and the north-south expressway.

Matjaž Han of the SD warned that all companies in need of aid would still not receive it. He too pointed to the problems of the hospitality and tourism sector, which would have long-term problems with hiring.

Miha Kordiš of the Left said that a large part of precarious workers, the unemployed and tenants were still being left out.

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