STA, 2 July 2020 - Out of 1,198 coronavirus tests conducted on Wednesday, 21 came back positive, the highest daily figure since 16 April when Slovenia recorded 36 new cases. Nine persons were in hospital, one more than the day before. None required intensive care, show latest government data.
There were no Covid-19 fatalities recorded yesterday. The national death toll thus remains at 111.
The total of estimated active cases is 122, according to the national Covid-19 tracker site data.
On Wednesday, five new cases were confirmed in Ljubljana, five in Ravne na Koroškem (N), four in Dravograd (N), and one each in seven other municipalities.
In the past week, Slovenia saw 87 new cases. A total of 140 infections were confirmed in June, whereas only 34 in May, show the Health Ministry data as reported by public broadcaster RTV Slovenija.
The government's chief Covid-19 advisor Bojana Beović told Radio Slovenija today that the bulk of new cases continue to be imported, although the virus is also spreading within the country, the source of which cannot be established.
"Those who bring the infection from abroad, generate additional cases here, in the family, working environments. It's a cause for great concern," she said.
Beović said that those who were getting ill with Covid-19 in the past few days "were mostly not members of high risk groups. However, recently a more severe case has emerged as well".
The virus has been spreading among the younger generations mostly - on Wednesday, six infections were confirmed among people aged 15-24, seven among those aged 25-34 and three among those aged 35-44.
However, Beović warned that the young could develop a more severe form of the disease as well, not to mention that they could pass the virus on to older relatives.
Eva Grilc of the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) also expressed concern over the developments today.
The NIJZ has detected two hotspots so far; one each in the Štajerska region in the north-east and Koroška region in the north.
The Štajerska hotspot has been triggered by imported cases from Serbia, whereas the Koroška one is a result of imported infections from Bosnia-Herzegovina, reads a NIJZ press release.
Meanwhile, Mateja Logar of the UKC Ljubljana clinic for infectious diseases told RTV Slovenija that the situation was very serious for the virus had been spreading within the population and the cases were no longer merely imported.
"It is no longer possible to always know from whom the person contracted the virus," she said, adding that contact tracing had been thus made more difficult.
In recent days, an adult working at a kindergarten in Oplotnica near Maribor tested positive. The kindergarten has implemented all the required precaution measures and informed the parents of the developments, said the municipality.
The infected person as well as 18 children who were in contact with her have been quarantined.
According to a media report, another infection at kindergarten was confirmed in a student who was helping at a kindergarten in Ljubljana.
The student stayed at home as soon as it turned out she might be infected, while 21 children and two employees were sent into a two-week quarantine.
The total number of infections confirmed so far in Slovenia stands at 1,633, after one of the previous cases has been removed from the case count since further testing failed to confirm the infection.
Poll shows growing concern as Covid-19 count increases
STA, 1 July 2020 - A recent poll by Valicon shows a significant change in public opinion as the number of confirmed daily Covid-19 cases has increased again in Slovenia, with the share of concerned people increasing and reaching the level from the end of April.
While in mid-June the share of concerned respondents was 47%, at the end of June it was again at 67%, which is the highest share recorded since the end of April.
Valicon attributes the growing concern to concern about the family and personal health, which is again getting into focus.
Perhaps the most telling information is that "concern that the situation could last for a long time" has given way to concern for the economy, the pollster said on Wednesday.
What is even more drastic is the assessment of the developments, as 55% of the people polled said the things were turning for the worse, which compares to only 11% two weeks ago.
The current situation is normal or rather normal to less than a quarter of the 529 participants in the latest #Newnormality poll between 24 and 29 June, down from two-fifths from mid-June.
Some 35% said that the situation was "acceptable and bearable", up five percentage points, while the share of those who think that the circumstances are unpleasant was up by ten points to 34%.
There is also a shift in the perception of the government's anti-epidemic measures. The share of those who think they are too strict was down by 11 percentage points to 22%, the lowest since the end of March.
The share of respondents who think the measures are not strict enough was meanwhile up from 14% in mid-June to 32%, the highest share since the end of March.
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