STA, 25 September 2020 - The number of new coronavirus infections reached a new high on Thursday, as 192 of the 3,645 tests came back positive, according to government data. The total number of infections recorded so far exceeded 5,000.
A total of 60 Covid-19 patients were in hospital yesterday, 15 of whom needed intensive care. Eleven were discharged from hospital.
No patient with Covid-19 died, leaving the death toll at 145.
The number of tests conducted on Thursday is also record high. So far, 212,756 tests have been conducted, the government said on Twitter.
The Health Ministry told the STA today that the National Institute of Public Health had corrected the figures for Wednesday from 122 to 121, as one case was registered twice.
Thus, 5,007 infections have been confirmed in Slovenia so far.
New cases were recorded throughout the country on Thursday, most in Ljubljana, where almost a quarter of the latest cases was detected (52). Domžale and Črna na Koroškem follow with seven cases each, and Maribor and Celje with six each. Five cases were detected in Slovenske Konjice and four each in Kranj and Medvode.
Currently, 1,509 cases are active in the country, of which 338 are in the capital.
Government Covid-19 spokesperson Jelko Kacin told the press today the government recommended to companies to switch to working from home where this is possible and introduce temperature screenings for employees coming to work.
He said nobody wanted another lockdown and that the government was doing all it could to keep public life and the economy running, and that each individual and company must do their part.
He said the cabinet would wait for the figures for Friday and discuss the situation during the weekend before taking any steps. It also wants to wait for the proposals of its task force which are expected on Monday, when the government is scheduled to hold a formal meeting.
Asked which additional measures are being discussed at this point, Kacin said the government could reduce the number of people that can gather in a public place from 10 to 6.
He also urged against any non-essential private or public gatherings, stressing that the government did not want to introduce any more legal restrictions but was appealing to people to behave in a responsible way.
Asked why an epidemic is not declared now given that the country has a lot more infections than in the spring, the government official said that a lot more was known about the virus now and that many preventive protocols had been put in place since.
Due to a growing demand for swabs taking, community health centres have been expanding their testing points and extending working hours.
Health Ministry adviser Simona Repar Bornšek said after Tuesday's meeting with directors of health centres that from now on all health institution were allowed to conduct testing.
General manager of the UKC Ljubljana hospital Janez Poklukar told the STA today the hospital could accept 105 Covid-19 patients, including 25 in intensive care without interrupting the hospital's regular operations. If more patients will need treatment, some programmes will have to be shut down, he said.
So far, more than 60 of the hospital's staff have also been infected, almost exclusively outside the hospital.
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