STA, 8 September 2021 - Touring the western region with his cabinet on Wednesday, Prime Minister Janez Janša responded to the latest surge in coronavirus infections by saying the government was determined not to shut down the economy or public life, repeating his call for vaccination.
Calling at the Idrija-based industrial company Hidria, Janša wished that all municipalities had such a high vaccination rates as Idrija or Vipava where more than half of the population has been fully vaccinated.
While the government is determined not to shut down public life, Janša said people were being ordered to quarantine where new infections appeared, classes were being closed and so might schools, facilities or services if necessary.
Vaccination is the only way to avoid disruption to normal life, he said, adding that it was in the shared interests of the government, opposition, media and each individual to reach such a vaccination rate that the Covid-19 outbreak would not jeopardise public life or the health system.
He noted that vaccination is free and everyone can choose between different vaccines. This was after he posted a message on his Twitter profile saying that some 100 classes had already been quarantined because many were not getting vaccinated out of selfishness.
The Covid-19 tracker site shows 103 classes in primary schools and 50 secondary classes were quarantined on Tuesday, while another 70 primary and 26 secondary classes had remote lessons.
"If it came to Slovenians being the only ones in Europe failing to seize the opportunity, we'll be the only ones whose health system will collapse. The logic is simple. There're no more dilemmas as there were at the start of the pandemic."
However, the prime minister concluded on a positive note: "We'll get over this crisis too as we proved last year we can."
Slovenia logged over 1,000 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the highest daily increase in infections since late April.
