STA, 14 September 2020 - Slovenia has recorded 47 new coronavirus infections from 1,110 tests performed on Sunday, less than half the figure the day before as testing typically slows down during the weekend. However, a public health chief has warned the country's contagion curve is in a phase of growth with the basic reproduction number at 1.4.
The latest figures from the government show the number of Covid-19 hospitalisations has risen to 40 despite six being discharged home. Nine of the patients require intensive treatment.
No Covid-19-related fatalities were reported, which leaves the overall death toll at 135.
The latest cases bring the national case count to 3,749, with 866 remaining active cases, according to the tracker site covid-19.sledilnik.org.
Milan Krek, director of the National Institute of Public Health, has revealed that Slovenia's R0, the figure showing the average number of people infected by one infectious individual, has risen to 1.4.
Commenting on the outbreak for RTV Slovenija on Sunday, Krek said Slovenia could see the number of daily infections rise to 165 in the coming days.
Slovenia is already a "red country", having exceeded 40 infections per 100,000 residents in a fortnight, he said in a reference to the colour-coded map Slovenia keeps for other countries.
He reckons the curve of infections will "flatten when we start truly abiding by the recommendations and measures that have been known for a while".
With Covid-19 hospitalisations increasing, he warned the situation at hospitals reflects the state of infections ten or 14 days ago when Slovenia had 18 to 40 infections a day.
"You can imagine what will happen in 14 days," considering almost 100 infections had been confirmed on Saturday.
As the need for hospital beds increases, Krek warned that this could affect beds intended for other patients and reduce access to some health services.
Meanwhile, Bojana Beović, the government's chief Covid-19 adviser, announced a more "radical" approach to crack down on private parties of more than ten people, telling POP TV last night that oversight and fining would be stepped up.
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