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 Xenia Guzej. You can see more of her work here.

Contents

Number of coronavirus cases up by 28 in a day to 442

New Covid-19 testing rules in place

Ban on movement and gatherings largely successful

Pahor supports giving army police powers

Homeless stay in streets as they fear infection in overcrowded shelters

Number of coronavirus cases up by 28 in a day to 442

STA, 23 March 2020 - A total of 442 coronavirus cases were confirmed in Slovenia by 2pm on Monday, an increase of 28 over the past 24 hours. The figure comes after 13,812 tests conducted, 714 more than by Sunday, fresh data posted by the National Public Health Institute show.

Currently, 32 patients are being treated at the UKC Ljubljana hospital, and eight of them are in intensive care, the government said on its Twitter profile.

Another 11 patients are at the Maribor UKC hospital, where two patients are in intensive care. Both have already been intubated, according to the hospital.

Coronavirus patients are also being treated at the Golnik Clinic of Respiratory and Allergic Diseases and yesterday the Celje general hospital admitted its first Covid-19 patient.

The number of coronavirus-related deaths in Slovenia rose to three today as a 67-year-old man with multiple underlying conditions died at UKC Ljubljana. The other two fatalities were patients in their 90s who had underlying conditions as well.

Coronavirus infections have been confirmed in 107 out of Slovenia's 212 municipalities with 57 of those recording two or more cases.

The biggest increase in cases over the past 24 hours was recorded in Ljubljana, increasing by seven to 99.

The second and third biggest outbreaks are in Šmarje pri Jelšah in the north-east and Metlika in the south-east. The former saw its case count increase by one to 46 and the latter did not register new cases in the past day so the number remains at 25.

Most patients are between 30 and 49 years old, 71 of them women and 74 men. A hundred and four patients fall in the 60+ category, the most at risk group, half of them are women and half of them men.

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Ban on movement and gatherings largely successful

STA, 23 March 2020 - Slovenians have mostly complied with government directives aimed at containing the coronavirus epidemic and are abiding by a ban on gatherings and socialising, suggest reports from several municipalities. Nor have people flocked to the coast or lakeside resorts over the weekend.

While the vast majority of the people appear to have complied with the ban, in the seaside town of Izola the locals did spot a few surfers on Sunday who were trying to capitalise on strong winds. The town will thus ban any sports activities on the local beaches and fine any violators.

Izola has reported though that people were mostly staying at home over the weekend. A stiff bora wind that pushed through the western Primorska region on Sunday probably played a role in this situation as well.

Piran, otherwise the most visited Slovenian municipality, reported that people were mostly complying with the lockdown as well. The town authorities are not planning to ban the use of beaches for now.

Koper has also recorded a drop in visitors, however the city has received a few reports from locals of gatherings taking place despite the ban. Mostly, the cases transpired to be individuals or small groups of up to three people.

Meanwhile, lakeside resorts in the Slovenian Alps, another tourism hotspot in the country, were mostly empty as well, apart from the locals. Colder weather might have been a factor.

In the Bohinj area, people were generally acting in line with instructions. The number of residents has increased by up to 2,000 since the start of the crisis due to locals living and working elsewhere returning home. The area has also seen an influx of those who own holiday homes there.

The municipality authorities have pointed to the issue of those returning home from abroad, saying that they should act responsibly and self-isolate.

Generally speaking, police officers from the northern Gorenjska region have reported that people have been taking the situation increasingly more seriously by the day, having recorded only a few actual violations of the ban so far.

One of them was a gathering of people on a motocross track near Brnik on Saturday who dispersed immediately and without a protest after a police officer with a guide dog reminded them of the decree.

Since the implementation of the ban, the police have been receiving numerous reports of violations, but mostly such reports turn out to be unwarranted.

The General Police Administration has reported that most people have been complying with the ban or heeding police warnings, reminding potential violators that they would be putting at risk themselves as well as others.

Jelko Kacin, the spokesman for the government coronavirus crisis unit, said on Saturday that the government was planning to ban movement out of one's municipality of residence to step up its efforts to curb the epidemic. He also urged people not to travel to popular touristy places in Slovenia, a trend that had been detected earlier despite the epidemic.

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Pahor supports giving army police powers

STA, 23 March 2020 - Responding to an initiative by the new government to activate legislation giving the army police powers, President Borut Pahor said in his capacity of commander-in-chief of the Slovenian Armed Forces that he understood the need to give the military additional powers within the bounds of law.

The response comes after Interior Minister Aleš Hojs recently said he was considering proposing the activation of article 37.a of the defence act, which allows the Slovenian Armed Forces to help the police in "broader protection of the state border".

Activated only if endorsed by a two-thirds majority vote in parliament, it allows soldiers to carry out tasks such as temporarily restricting the movement of persons and taking part in crowd control.

The president's office said on Monday that Pahor believed that such decision of the National Assembly would be sensible in the given situation, "but must be implemented strictly within the legal framework, for thee months at the most."

The president separately met with Hojs and Defence Minister Matej Tonin today over the matter, and decided that this is acceptable in circumstances when the country is facing an increase in illegal migration and the coronavirus outbreak.

Pahor noted that all relevant authorities and services, including the police, were giving their best, but that the situation required additional assistance in the protection of the Schengen border.

The president meanwhile believes that there are no reasons for the military to participate in other tasks performed by the police.

Some parties on the left have criticised the idea to give the army limited police powers, as they fear it could be abused.

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Homeless stay in streets as they fear infection in overcrowded shelters

STA, 23 March 2020 - One of the population groups in Slovenia that has it hardest during the lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus outbreak are the homeless. The situation is becoming paradoxical as many of them opt to stay in the street in the cold as they fear they could get infected in overcrowded shelters.

Many of the homeless have nowhere to go to self-isolate and many of them have chronic conditions which could be fatal in combination with coronavirus, the Kralji Ulice association for assistance and self-help for the homeless said on Monday.

The association has closed its daily centre, and other activities are also on hold, while the expert service is still operational.

"People come mostly individually, as their documents or money is kept in the centre, and they also need clothes and personal hygiene items," Hana Košan of Kralji Ulice told the STA.

The situation for rough sleepers is worsening, as certain public toilets and duty outpatient clinics are closed. Shelters meanwhile remain open and the programme of accommodation in apartments is also functioning.

While the operation of shelters has been adjusted to the restrictive and safety measures, both the homeless and the staff lack personal protective equipment.

Košan said that the epidemic had additionally exposed the shortage of staff in shelters. "All of us will probably continue working even if we get infected and fall ill."

The association has called on the relevant institutions not to forget people on the margins. It needs more rooms which would accommodate a lower number of persons and wants to provide the homeless with constant care so that they do not need to leave shelter.

The existing shelters are overcrowded. "People are leaving some shelters. They say that there are too many people there and that they are afraid of getting infected. They think they are better off in the streets, although the situation is not rosy out there either."

Košan said that the government decree banning public gatherings was an additional problem, but none of the homeless in Slovenia has so far reported being fined by the police.

"Where could they retreat to if they live in public areas, if they do not have a home," she said, nevertheless calling on the homeless to stay in their shelters, if possible, to be in small groups and to take care of personal hygiene.

Solitude is another problem as the public life has ground to a halt. "People say that, after the closure of daily centres and other activities, they are very lonely," Košan said, adding that this was also one of the reasons they were returning to the street.

The association is concerned about the scenario in which the homeless get seriously ill due to complications brought by coronavirus. Many of them are old and many have chronic conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or diabetes.

"In foreign countries, when they started running out of beds in hospitals, there was no room any more for the homeless, drug addicts and others from the margins of the society. We fear that these people will be left in the street."

The distribution of the association's magazine, which was a source of income for many of the homeless, has been suspended.

The association has thus called on the readers and supporters to donate money, which would be distributed among the regular sellers of the magazine, whose number is between 170 and 200. Around EUR 2,000 has so far been donated.

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STA, 23 March 2020 - Virtually all Slovenian businesses have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic and its ramifications with 93% of the companies surveyed by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) reporting serious difficulties. The chamber estimates a stimulus package of up to 4 billion euro is needed to avert an economic and social crisis.

"The situation at businesses is getting more alarming by the day," the GZS stated on Monday as it released the results of a survey conducted last week among micro, small, medium-sized and large companies.

Four out of ten companies estimate their revenue will drop by more than 70% in March due to disruption to business caused by coronavirus, a further 18% expect to halve their revenue and as many project a fall of at least 30%.

Micro and small businesses have been particularly hard hit with half of them expecting more than a 70% fall in revenue.

Current estimates show more than half of the companies surveyed expect a slump in business over the next three to six months and one out of three expect a limited scope of operations to persist for more than six months.

A large majority (61%) have been hit hardest by a drop in domestic demand and government measures banning direct sale of goods and services to customers, suspended public transportation and school closure (59%).

Over a third (37%) report difficulties due to lockdowns and similar restrictions in other countries, and almost as many (35%) say they have been affected by a drop in foreign demand.

Other problems reported by the companies surveyed include disruption to international transport (29%) or disrupted supply chains (20%). Some are complaining about a lack of protective equipment.

"Fact is that we have already moved from a health crisis deeply into an economic crisis. Experience suggests that a health crisis takes about two and a half months. In a similar scenario in Slovenia the epidemic jeopardising people's lives could be weathered by roughly mid-May," the chamber said.

It added that the decisions that were being taken by the government these days would decide how deep and how long the economic crisis, and hence the scope and length of social turmoil.

Businesses expect the state to fully cover the cost of the temporarily laid off labour force, defer tax liabilities, take measures to secure liquidity and labour market flexibility, set up a one-stop shop offering topical info for companies, ensure smooth movement of goods across the border and measures to secure claims in some markets.

The GZS estimates that for the Slovenian economy to remain in business and preserve as many jobs as possible liquidity measures of between two and four billion euro are needed, urging the government to draw up a new emergency package.

The chamber has sent its list of proposals to the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology.

The GZS has also joined a group of several other business associations, including the Slovenian-German Chamber of Commerce, the British-Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and AmCham Slovenia, who called for fast action to help businesses.

The group offered to the government and the crisis busting taskforce headed by economist Matej Lahovnik "all the expertise that Slovenian managers, entrepreneurs and economic and management experts can offer".

The calls come as a growing number of business are suspending or scaling down their operations to the minimum. The latest to announce a temporary closure of its 18 shops across the country has been the Croatian bakery chain Mlinar.

The glassworks Steklarna Rogaška reduced its production to 7% capacity because it cannot halt the melting furnace without long-term consequences. The decision was taken in agreement with its owner, the Helsinki-based Fiskars Group, the trade union and the works council.

The Zreče-based tool maker Unior has reduced production as well, but is still meeting its obligations to buyers, and business is continuing as usual in the division catering to the automotive industry.

Second emergency package taking shape, hints at help for self-employed

STA, 23 March 2020 - The government will discuss Monday evening guidelines for a new emergency package to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on the population and the economy. The guidelines, which include pay bonuses for workers in critical sectors, will be presented on Tuesday and include aid to the self-employed, PM Janez Janša announced.

Janša said the guidelines, to serve as a basis for legislation the government wants to adopt by this Friday, had been coordinated by the coalition parties last Friday and were now supplemented with proposals by ministries and the advisory task force led by economist Matej Lahovnik.

The pending new measures announced last Saturday include 10-200% pay bonuses to those working in critical sectors such as healthcare, civil protection, security and critical infrastructure, as well as a temporary 30% pay cut for all state officials.

Employers in the private sector will be advised to secure bonuses for hard-working staff, in particular in groceries.

In a tweet published today, Janša added the "guidelines will include solutions for aid to the self-employed", a measure that many argued was lacking in the first emergency package adopted by parliament last week.

According to Janša, the basic idea of the package will be freezing the state of affairs. Thus the government will secure the funds needed "to preserve jobs, social stability, economic capacity, public service, potential in science, culture...in society in general".

On Saturday Janša announced a crisis bonus for pensioners and other vulnerable groups and compensation for companies that had to close shop because of the epidemic.

The government plans to define a model for determining the damage suffered by businesses as a result of the epidemic and lay down a reimbursement framework.

In the night to Friday last week, parliament passed the first package of emergency laws. The measures included pay compensation for temporary lay-offs, loan payment and tax duty deferrals for companies, as well as trade restrictions for agriculture and food products. One act gave the government complete discretion over the allocation of budget funds.

You probably first heard of Viberate a few years ago, when it got written up along with the wave of blockchain companies based in Slovenia, with its key selling point being “music”. But while most of those of other start-ups failed to deliver on their promises, and many have simply disappeared, Viberate continues to develop and grow, with over 100 people working around the world on a variety of projects.

These are all based on a love of music, an understanding of the data associated with the business, and the value that can be added from analysing and applying it. In addition to working with industry professionals in the "live part" of the business (meaning musicians, festival organizers, venues, event promotors), Viberate also offers the Tonight Nightlife Guide app (Android and IoS), which in less viral times helps you plan a top night out in the various party cities of Europe, and a service to help music festivals develop their own apps. In short, it’s an exciting company, based in Ljubljana and going out into the world, one that’s well worth checking in on if you haven’t done so in a while.

Stay home and party with Umek, Slovenia’s own superstar DJ and one of Viberate’s founders

But why are we writing about a company that helps promote live shows when there are no live shows being planned? That’s because the good folk at Viberate, true to their flexible and dynamic origins have wasted no time to adapt to the new reality. They’ve set up Sick Festivals, a website that tracks which music festivals around the world have been cancelled or postponed, covering events in Europe, Asia, the Americas, Africa and Oceania. You can find it here, and in doing so reintroduce yourself to a Slovenian business that can help you plan your next big night out, whenever that is. And if you’re part of the live music industry then why not follow them on Facebook and keep an eye out some new solutions and features that Viberate is developing to help soften the impact of the current situation, which we’ll also report here when ready for release.

STA, 23 March 2020 - The coronavirus crisis will have a huge impact on Slovenia's and Europe's economies and monetary policy measures will be commensurate to the gravity of the situation. Equally important will be decisive and fast fiscal policy action, Boštjan Vasle, the governor of Slovenia's central bank, told the STA.

"It is clear at this moment that the effects of coronavirus on our economic growth will be enormous," Banka Slovenije governor Vasle said, adding that estimates about the scope of the contraction will only be possible once the health situation calms down.

Vasle said monetary policy measures in the eurozone had been taken with the awareness of how serious the situation is. "Their most important message is that they are adjusted to the scope of damage that will occur. This will remain so in the future."

The European Central Bank (ECB) and national central banks in the Eurosystem have increased asset purchases in the framework of existing programmes and added a EUR 750 billion asset purchase instrument last week.

"Add together the value of these measures and we're talking about almost a thousand billion euro at the level of the eurozone. For comparison, Slovenia's GDP is around EUR 46 billion."

This is a clear signal that monetary policy is aware of the gravity of the crisis and that central banks are capable of fast and effective action. The ECB's governing council will keep a close eye on the situation and use all instruments at its disposal for additional action if necessary, he said.

If the response to this health crisis is to be successful, coordinated action of all economic policies in a country is necessary along with concerted action by domestic and EU institutions.

The ECB's governing council therefore believes that fiscal policy must respond with equal determination and perhaps even more decisively than monetary policy, according to Vasle.

"Slovenia must bear in mind the experience of the previous crisis. This experience says countries which had reacted fast were more successful and in some cases subject to fewer of the restrictions that were put in place after the initial period of action."

Slovenia's fiscal policy action is constrained by a constitutional fiscal rule. The government has repeatedly said it would take advantage of the built-in flexibility of the constraints and Vasle likewise noted that the existing rules have exemptions for extraordinary circumstances. "It would not make sense not to take advantage of that."

Turning to the state of the Slovenian banking system, Vasle said that banks were in better shape than they had been when the financial crisis erupted.

They are sufficiently capitalised and the structure of their financing is significantly different in that it is based on deposits; equity is seven times the size of non-performing loans, which improves resilience to the current shock.

Neither do banks have packages of non-performing loans on their portfolios - which had been a part of the reason why the previous crisis was so deep - while companies are financially stronger and better equipped to absorb the crisis.

Overall the liquidity of the banking system is good, with EUR 5.7 billion in primary liquidity and EUR 7.7 billion in secondary liquidity that banks may activate by selling liquid investments or by leveraging them for monetary policy measures.

"Despite the good starting point, the crisis will of course reflect on banks as well," said Vasle, adding that the impact would strongly depend on the duration of the extraordinary circumstances and the effectiveness of mitigation measures.

The fundamental objective of Banka Slovenije action within the eurozone system and in the framework of cooperation with the government is therefore to design measures that will make it possible to quickly overcome the crisis and return back to normal operations as soon as possible.

The Slovenian parliament last week passed an emergency law deferring loan payments. Banks will be obligated to grant creditors deferral, which Vasle said would eliminate uncertainty among companies and households as to how they can act in the event they are unable to meet their loan obligations.

Asked about the financial impact of this measure on banks, Vasle said it would depend on how the pandemic develops and how long it lasts. Banka Slovenije has tested even exceptionally unfavourable scenarios and determined that even in this case the measures would be financially acceptable.

But Vasle stressed that this was merely the first tier of action as coordination efforts were already under way at eurozone level to make sure such deferral of interest and principal payments do not affect bank operations.

"It is important here to assure all banks that the measures which they adopt during the crisis will affect all eurozone banks the same way. This is the only way to avoid banks in an individual country having an advantage," he said.

The third tier of action involves additional guarantees that the state could provide, for example via SID Banka, the Slovenian export and development bank, which would additionally reduce uncertainty for the people and companies.

"It is my estimate that a solution will soon be presented to the public. At this moment a legislative solution that would make this possible is already being prepared."

All our stories on coronavirus and Slovenia are here

STA, 18 March 2020 - The Italian owners of the Slovenian subsidiary of the banking group Unicredit confirmed on Wednesday the allocation of EUR 22.8 million out of EUR 45.1 million in last year's distributable profit for dividends, meaning EUR 4.67 gross per share. The remainder will remain undistributed.

The Unicredit shareholders were also notified of the supervisory board changes - the term of five supervisors is to expire on 4 April, Pasquale Giamboi and Andrea Cesaroni will remain on the board for another term, while other three supervisors will be replaced by Enrica Rimoldi, Giorgiana Lazar O'Callaghan and Fabio Fornarolli.

Unicredit Slovenia also endorsed a multi-annual development plan for the period up to 2023 at today's meeting.

Last year, Unicredit Banka Slovenija and Unicredit Leasing generated EUR 79 million in operating revenue, a 0.5% increase year-on-year. Meanwhile, net interest revenue dropped by 8.2% to EUR 46 million compared to 2018.

The Italian banking group Unicredit generated EUR 3.4 billion in net profit, down almost 18% year-on-year. The group's revenue saw a downturn as well, with the management attributing poorer business results mostly to a drop in net interest revenue.

STA, 22 March - The Krško Nuclear Power Station (NEK) said on Sunday that a preventive examination of systems and equipment had not detected any damage or impact on operations caused by a severe earthquake in Zagreb that was felt in Slovenia as well. However, Austrian politicians reiterated their calls for the closure of Slovenia's sole nuclear power plant.

The power station, situated roughly 50 kilometres north-west of Zagreb and hence close to the earthquake's epicentre, is operating normally, said the Nuclear Security Administration, adding that no safety alarm had gone off either.

NEK spokeswoman Ida Novak Jerele told the STA that the nuclear plant had various and specific protocols prepared in case of potential natural or other disasters. Nuclear experts performed their tasks and analyses in line with them today as well, she added.

Meanwhile, the Austrian press agency APA reported that cross-partisan calls for the NEK shutdown followed the 5.3 magnitude quake. A number of Austrian politicians said that the plant posed a great risk to the region's security and that its lifespan was coming to an end.

"It all turned out well this time, but what about next time," the governor of the Austrian state of Carinthia, Peter Kaiser, told the media. He said that a transition to alternative energy resources did not have an alternative in the medium-term and long-term.

The Austrian politicians highlighted that NEK had a limited lifespan and would have to be closed by 2023, saying that today's earthquake should be a wake-up call reminding Slovenia to shut down its sole nuclear power plant.

They all agreed that plans to build a new reactor at the power station would have to be dropped. The last time Austria protested over this issue was last year in August when the then Prime Minister Marjan Šarec said that all the efforts had to go into the construction of another reactor.

Slovenia sending quake aid to Croatia

STA, 22 March 2020 - Slovenia has dispatched emergency relief aid to Croatia in response to the neighbouring country's appeal for help via the European civil protection mechanism after a magnitude 5.3 earthquake hit the capital Zagreb on Sunday morning.

In line with a decision taken by the government earlier in the day, Slovenia dispatched ten tents equipped to accommodate up to 80 people with 60 beds and 60 sleeping bags and 20 heating devices.

The lorry carrying EUR 107,000 worth of material aid was sent off from the civil protection facility on the northern outskirts of Ljubljana by Defence Minister Matej Tonin, who called for continued solidarity in Europe in the face of the coronavirus outbreak and natural disasters such as the latest quake.

"That's the least we can do to help our neighbours in these moments of crisis," he said. "If ever, Europe needs solidarity today and this aid is Slovenia's expression of that solidarity."

Prime Minister Janez Janša offered Croatia help in a phone call with his counterpart Andrej Plenković in the morning, as did Foreign Minister Anže Logar in a phone call with his counterpart Gordan Grlić Radman.

Solidarity with Croatia has also been expressed by President Borut Pahor in a longer telephone call with his Croatian opposite number Zoran Milanović.

The quake, which was also felt by people throughout Slovenia, left at least 15 people with injuries, including a gravelly injured 15-year-old girl. It also caused considerable damage to buildings and cars.

Janša tweeted that the quake did not cause any significant damage in Slovenia and the Krško Nuclear Power Station on the border with Croatia has not been affected.

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.

A schedule of all the main events involving Slovenia this week can be found here

This summary is provided by the STA:

Second Slovenian Covid-19 patient dies

LJUBLJANA/METLIKA - Slovenia recorded a second coronavirus fatality as the number of confirmed cases rose by 31 in the past day to 414 by 2pm out of 13,098 tests taken. Health Minister Tomaž Gantar said that both patients who had died were in their 90s and had underlying conditions. "It's hard to say at the moment that anyone has died only because of being infected with Covid-19," the minister told reporters. Unofficially, the latest fatality was an elderly woman from the Metlika nursing home, like the man that died just over a week ago. Visiting the facility PM Janez Janša pledged an all out effort to supply enough protective equipment.

Slovenia sends quake relief aid to Croatia

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia sent emergency relief aid to Croatia in response to the neighbouring country's appeal for help via the European civil protection mechanism after a magnitude 5.3 earthquake hit the capital Zagreb in the morning. Slovenia dispatched ten tents equipped to accommodate up to 80 people with 60 beds and 60 sleeping bags and 20 heating devices, valued at EUR 107,000. Defence Minister Matej Tonin on the occasion called for continued solidarity in Europe in the face of the coronavirus outbreak and natural disasters such as the latest quake. Earlier, help and solidarity was offered to Croatia in phone calls with their counterparts by Prime Minister Janez Janša, Foreign Minister Anže Logar and President Borut Pahor.

Krško N-plant operating normally after Zagreb earthquake, Austria urges closure

KLAGENFURT, GRAZ, Austria, KRŠKO - The Krško Nuclear Power Station (NEK) reported that a preventive examination of systems and equipment had not detected any damage or impact on operations caused by a severe earthquake in Zagreb that was felt in Slovenia as well. The power station, situated near the border with Croatia and hence close to the earthquake's epicentre, is operating normally, said the Nuclear Security Administration. However, a group of Austrian politicians reiterated their calls for the closure of Slovenia's sole nuclear power plant, saying that the plant posed a great risk to the region's security and that its lifespan was coming to an end.

Stranded Slovenians returning home from Paris

PARIS, France - A group of Slovenians stranded abroad due to air traffic cancellations and restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic returned home. A repatriation commercial Air France flight from Paris was then scheduled to head back to France with French citizens who had found themselves in a similar predicament. The flight brought home 22 Slovenian citizens and two people with permanent residence in Slovenia.

Visiting Ljubljana? Check out what's on this week, while all our stories on Slovenia, from newest to oldest, are here

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 their work here.

Contents

Second Covid-19 patient dies in Slovenia

PM drawing links between epidemic and independence war

Stranded Slovenians returning home from Paris

Second Covid-19 patient dies in Slovenia

STA, 22 March 2020 - A second coronavirus patient in Slovenia has died, Health Minister Tomaž Gantar announced on Sunday with unofficial information available to the STA indicating the victim was an elderly woman from the Metlika nursing home with several underlying conditions with the infection not seen as the cause of death.

Gantar told reporters that both patients who had died were in their 90s and had underlying conditions.

"It's hard to say at the moment that anyone has died only because of being infected with Covid-19. Both persons to have died in Slovenia so far were around 90 years old and had other accompanying illnesses," said Gantar.

This would be a second fatality of the Metlika outbreak, which erupted after a doctor at the community health centre there tested positive at the beginning of March. It had been reported that he had also seen patients at the nursing home. Later several residents and staff tested positive.

Prime Minister Janez Janša paid a visit to the Metlika nursing home today to get acquainted with the situation first hand and thank those responsible for their response and cooperation.

Quoted by the Government Communication Office, Janša said the government was doing everything in its power to curb the epidemic and to provide enough protective equipment to health institutions, nursing homes and other critical services.

The nursing home director Iva Lozar said that a pair of Health Ministry representatives were volunteering at the home, with more volunteers and nurses due to arrive tomorrow to alleviate the burden on the staff.

Slovenia recorded 414 confirmed coronavirus cases until 2pm today, an increase of 31 over the past 24 hours. A total of 13,098 tests had been taken with Gantar noting that Slovenia was among the countries with the highest testing rates.

Minister Gantar said that 55 Covid-19 patients were being treated at hospitals, one fewer than on Saturday. Ten of the patients are in intensive treatment units, one more than on Saturday.

He highlighted that securing enough personal protective equipment was key at the moment, with the Economy Ministry being in charge of purchasing the supplies and the Health Ministry coordinating the allocation.

Another top priority was protecting at risk groups, such as the elderly, people with chronic diseases and those with a weakened immune system.

Labour Minister Janez Cigler Kralj announced today that mobile medical teams would be conducting coronavirus testing at nursing homes to make it easier for the residents as well as to reduce the workload of certain emergency services.

Asked about the planned crisis bonus for pensioners and other vulnerable groups, he said that any such measure would be fair in addressing the needs of those people.

The Pensioners' Association Union called on the government today to clearly specify who would be entitled to the bonus, for how long and what would be its actual impact.

Apart from the Metlika nursing home, another coronavirus hotspot in Slovenia is a nursing home at Šmarje pri Jelšah near Celje in eastern Slovenia, the second biggest outbreak in the country, only preceded by the capital.

A total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases at the nursing home there is 18 so far, four more compared to Saturday.

Overall, Šmarje pri Jelšah has 45 confirmed cases, four more than the day before. The outbreak erupted after a primary school teacher tested positive for the virus in mid March. Both she and the doctor from Metlika reportedly got infected while on holidays in northern Italy.

Janša visited Šmarje pri Jelšah yesterday.

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PM drawing links between epidemic and independence war

STA, 22 March 2020 - Ten days since Slovenia declared a coronavirus epidemic, Prime Minister Janez Janša urged the country to persevere in these challenging times as well as illustrated the severity and significance of the situation by drawing parallels between the current crisis and Slovenia's independence war.

"Today Europe looks as it did in the middle ages, cities filled with fear of the plague, with defensive walls and checkpoints at every corner. Only the internet was missing. Currently, we can only depend on ourselves and what we ourselves produce, grow and collect from our own supplies," the prime minister described the current situation.

He said that the government was making efforts to tackle transport and sales hold-ups as well as repatriation of Slovenian citizens stranded abroad, including in EU countries.

"But we will manage. At the end of the day, during Yugoslavia's collapse we had a war, closed borders, lost 80% of the market. But we bounced back quickly and started picking up speed and catching up with the developed world," Janša said, attributing Slovenia's success in the independence struggle to patience, unity, knowledge and bravery.

Meanwhile, Archbishop of Ljubljana Stanislav Zore also encouraged the citizens to persevere and show solidarity during the crisis, saying that the times were challenging but also showed signs of hope.

"The virus infects anybody who comes in contact with it, thus erasing differences between us and turning us into brothers and sisters," he added.

After carrying out the key measures to slow down the spread and curb the epidemic, the government is preparing the first wider legislation package to help the population and economy.

The government announced today that it would discuss on Monday a proposal on pay reimbursement for companies that had to close shop or reduce production due to the epidemic.

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Stranded Slovenians returning home from Paris

STA, 22 March 2020 - A group of Slovenians stranded abroad due to air traffic cancellations and restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic is to return home on Sunday. A repatriation commercial Air France flight from Paris will then head back to France with French citizens who have found themselves in a similar predicament.

The repatriation flight is carrying 22 Slovenian citizens and two people with permanent residence in Slovenia, and is expected to land at Ljubljana airport at 5:25pm, the Foreign Ministry told the STA.

The flight is one of the few commercial flights landing at or taking off from Ljubljana airport. The flight tickets allegedly cost some 300 euro, according to the ministry.

In the coming days, the Slovenian citizens stuck abroad can count on a few other repatriation flights. Related discussions with other countries are focussing on evacuating EU citizens, most notably from Asian countries.

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STA, 22 March 2020 - The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Slovenia rose to 414 by 2pm on Sunday, an increase of 31 over the past 24 hours, data from the National Public Health Institute show. The number of tests conducted rose to 13,098, up from 12,162 the day before.

Health authorities estimate that the actual number of cases is several times the confirmed number as not everyone is being tested.

Data as of 10am show the biggest outbreak remains in Ljubljana with 92 confirmed cases, seven more than the day before.

The second biggest is Šmarje pri Jelšah near Celje (NE) with 45 confirmed cases, four more than the day before, followed by Metlika in the south-east with 25 cases.

Six of the infected are foreigners.

Slovenia has recorded one Covid-19 death as an elderly resident of the Metlika nursing home died just over a week ago.

STA, 21 March 2020 - Even though public life in Slovenia all but ground to a halt on Monday in a bid to curb the coronavirus outbreak, the Environment Agency (ARSO) has not detected any improvement in air quality.

The biggest source of air pollution in the country is coarse particulate matter (PM10) from household solid fuel boilers, whose contribution in the given situation is not smaller, but possibly even bigger, said ARSO.

Air in Slovenia is as a rule at its best in spring or autumn and limit values of pollutants are rarely exceeded at this time of year.

"Comparing air particle pollution this week and the week before, particle levels this week are generally slightly higher than last week, which is a result of meteorological conditions," said ARSO.

Slovenia has enjoyed a spell of stable warm sunny weather, which also means temperature inversion for the greater part of the morning as a result of which morning particle values are elevated.

As for the impact of the suspension of public transportation and air flights and a reduction in commuter traffic, ARSO says this could be reflected mainly in emissions of nitrogen oxides, but this type of pollution is not problematic in Slovenia.

Moreover, monitoring also shows that it is too early to draw any conclusions on the impact of the shutdown on NOx levels.

ARSO noted that industry contributed only a small portion of air pollution recorded by its monitoring stations, so they could speak of a reduction in emissions.