Ljubljana related
STA, 14 March 2020 - The situation on Slovenia's borders with Italy and Croatia remains complicated as different countries have opted for different levels of border checks to contain the coronavirus epidemic. There are long lines of lorries in particular on the border with Croatia, but the authorities say they are working to address the situation.
Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec visited Gruškovje, one of the biggest crossings on the border with Croatia, Saturday afternoon to say that talks were under way with neighbouring countries.
"Goods are trapped on motorways, which is not good... We're in regular contact with ministers from neighbouring countries to resolve the situation. We're making various proposals, in particular to ensure uninterrupted supply and that the trapped lorry drivers could cross Slovenia faster," he said.
Many lorry drivers, in particular Romanian nationals, have been stuck in Slovenia because of restrictions imposed by Croatia and Hungary. At the same time, transit through Slovenia has been heavily affected due to restrictions that Slovenia adopted.
Vrtovec said that whatever the solution is, it must not cause new coronavirus infections. It must also apply to the entire transit route through Slovenia.
At Gruškovje the line of lorries waiting to cross into Croatia was nine kilometres long late in the afternoon. At Obrežje, another major crossing further south, the line was four kilometres long.
But cargo is not the only portion of traffic affected. Slovenia's restrictions on the border with Italy have left 95 Eastern European passengers stuck on two Ukrainian buses in the zone between the Slovenian and Italian border at the Fernetiči crossing since Friday morning.
The buses were allowed through the Italian checkpoint but were turned back at the Slovenian border, reportedly out of fear that they would be stuck in Slovenia. Italian authorities however refused to let them enter Italy and now they are stuck.
The local civil protection service from Sežana provided food and water last night and today. With the help of the Foreign Ministry it has been agreed that they will be escorted by police to a crossing with Croatia, where Croatian police will take over and see them through to Serbia.
Live updates from the Slovenian traffic service can be found here
Humanitarian convoy organised through Slovenia
STA, 14 March 2020 - Slovenian authorities have organised a humanitarian convoy to get lorries and passenger stranded in Slovenia due to border checks to their destination countries, the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday evening.
The convoy of lorries and buses got under way in the evening accompanied by police and vehicles of the national motorway company DARS.
Transit to their destination countries will be supervised and there will be no stop in the transit countries, the ministry said.
The convoy was organised in agreement with Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Turkey.
Two Ukrainian buses with 95 passengers which had been stuck in the zone between the Italian and Slovenian border on Fernetiči for almost two days are not part of the convoy, according to public broadcaster TV Slovenija.
The buses were sent to Padua and the passengers will be airlifted to their countries, the report said.
All our stories on Slovenia and coronavirus are here
Update - The government is suspending public transportation services in Slovenia to contain the spreading of the new coronavirus, with the measure coming into effect at midnight Sunday Taxis will still be able to operate, but drivers will have to sanitize their vehicles after every drive.
STA, 14 March 2020 - The government's crisis management unit agreed additional measures Saturday to slow the spread of the coronavirus epidemic. Public transportation will be suspended on Monday with bars and restaurant closures planned as well.
"Stopping public transportation is an emergency measure if we want to effectively contain the outbreak," Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec said about the blanket suspension of bus and rail traffic due to take effect on Monday.
Health Minister Tomaž Gantar announced a closure of bars and restaurants as well, though the specifics and the time frame have not been announced.
Prime Minister Janez Janša wrote on Twitter that "Slovenia will close or limit all non-urgent activities" and that measures would take effect once the competent ministries have prepared the requisite decrees.
The measures were discussed at a session of the extended government crisis management unit which featured top government and civil protection officials as well as the central bank and other institutions.
It was set up by the government at its maiden session last night to serve as the central body managing and coordinating the crisis response.
The coronavirus epidemic is seen as the biggest disruption to society since Slovenia fought for independence from Yugoslavia nearly thirty years ago, and it marks the return of a person who had been synonymous with crisis management at the time.
Jelko Kacin, long-time MP and until recently Slovenia's ambassador to NATO, was named tonight the official spokesman of the crisis management unit, performing a role he played during the independence war as information minister.
In that period, he and Janša provided daily briefings for the media, an era that Janša also recalled today during a press conference in the afternoon.
Bookmark this link for all our stories on COVID-19 and Slovenia
STA, 14 March 2020 - Slovenia's second largest city Maribor plans to close bars, restaurants and establishments such as hair salons and flower shops to slow the spread of coronavirus.
"We want Maribor and its surroundings to remain an area with a relatively slow spreading of the epidemic," Mayor Saša Arsenović said on Saturday.
All such establishments will be closed unless they can arrange contactless delivery and service of food, which could mean fast food stalls would be exempted.
Arsenović said shops should consider closing as well, except for petrol stations, pharmacies and grocery stores.
The mayor's order is expected to take effect on Sunday, when the detailed rules will be announced. The order may include fines for violators.
The move comes after Prime Minister Janez Janša has called on local communities to be proactive in curbing the epidemic, saying that people are still too careless and that additional restrictions may be imposed.
There are currently 13 confirmed coronavirus cases in Maribor area out of 181 confirmed cases nationwide.
Slovenia records first coronavirus fatality as elderly man dies
STA, 14 March 2020 - An elderly man died of coronavirus at UKC Ljubljana hospital in Ljubljana on Saturday, the first covid-19 victim in Slovenia, the STA has learnt from multiple sources.
The man is believed to have had multiple underlying conditions and been very ill prior to the infection. He had been infected in Metlika, where several residents of a nursing home contracted the disease from a doctor who became infected in Italy.
The doctor had been at work for three days before he became symptomatic, during which time he had been in contact with several nursing home residents and staff.
Seven residents and five staff have tested positive for coronavirus and Metlika and several more in the region, making Metlika one of the biggest hotspots of the disease in Slovenia.
Things seem to be moving into the new normal, so updates should so down, but if you want the latest on coronavirus and Slovenia then bookmark this link
Contents
Coronavirus on Turkish Airlines 1061 flight in Ljubljana on 10 March at 8:45am
Travellers advised to avoid Spain
Slovenia sees new steep increase in coronavirus cases as 181 infections confirmed
STA, 14 March 2020 - Slovenia had 181 confirmed coronavirus cases by 2pm on Saturday, up by 40 since Friday, as the number continues to rise sharply.
Regional data show 75 cases confirmed in the general Ljubljana area, 39 in Novo Mesto, 27 in Celje and 13 in Maribor, the government announced on Twitter.
The figures reflect the largest clusters of cases detected so far.
The largest single cluster, numbering 46, is in Ljubljana, and 26 have been infected in Šmarje pri Jelšah, a small community in eastern Slovenia where an outbreak was registered in a primary school.
Metlika has 25 cases associated with a doctor who came to work sick and infected multiple patients and health staff.
Slovenia shifting focus from confirmed to severe cases
STA, 14 March 2020 - Slovenia plans to shift the focus of efforts to fight the coronavirus epidemic from the number of confirmed cases to the number of serious cases, which will allow it to better plan and allocate resources, Prime Minister Janez Janša said on Saturday. The shift will change the way Slovenia reports statistics.
The number of confirmed cases is relative since it depends on the number of tests and how testing is conducted, whereas the number of serious cases who need hospital care affects how the system operates, he said.
But Janša nevertheless warned that the change in what will be considered the benchmark data, which will be used to calculate the number of infections, "does not alter the gravity of the outlook on the situation."
The shift in effect means that Slovenia will no longer report all confirmed cases, it will extrapolate the number of infections from the number of severe cases based on figures available in countries such as China and Italy.
The result will be a range of possible infections, around which work in the healthcare system will be organised, according to Bojana Beović, an infectious disease specialist.
She said Slovenia was at a point in the epidemic at which it is "impossible to determine all contacts infected persons have had or sources of infections," which is why it made sense to direct all the effort into treating persons with the most severe symptoms.
Consequently, persons with respiratory infections will be told to self-isolate for two weeks and will not be tested for coronavirus. Only if they need to be hospitalised will they be tested.
Govt caps protective gear prices, creates legal basis to fight COVID-19
STA, 14 March 2020 - The new government has issued a decree that caps the highest prices of protective personal and medical equipment and agents, and adopted a legal basis to step up measures to fight the COVID-19 outbreak.
The decree affects protective and surgical masks, goggles, gloves, protective suits, sanitizers, ventilators, portable oxygen systems and contactless body temperature thermometers.
The prices of these products over the next three months are capped at the highest retail prices in the market at 8am on Saturday.
The government also issued a decision that measures "stipulated in the contagious diseases act for plague or viral haemorrhagic fevers" be applied to fight the COVID-19 epidemic as a novel disease.
The act provides for measures such as epidemic testing, quarantining, inoculation and disinfection.
Once provision provides for a quarantine as a measure to restrict the freedom of movement and impose mandatory health checks of healthy persons suspected to have been in contact with an infectious person.
A quarantine is decreed by the minister of health on the proposal of the National Institute of Public Health and is not appealable.
As the number of coronavirus cases kept rising the former government already declared an epidemic earlier in the week and ordered the closure of all educational institutions from Monday as well as banned public events and urged a scale-down of public life.
Quarantine or self-isolation has so far been ordered only for individuals infected or in contact with coronavirus patients.
The most recent official number available shows that 181 persons had tested positive for coronavirus until 2pm today.
A decree issued by the former Health Minister Aleš Šabeder stepped in force at 7pm on Friday limiting the amount of prescription drugs issued by pharmacies equal to a month's treatment per patient and over-the counter drugs to a packet per person.
Pharmacies that meet the requirements to produce official formula preparations have been ordered to produce sanitisers and disinfectants.
Coronavirus infection on Tuesday's Turkish Airlines flight to Ljubljana
STA, 14 March 2020 - The National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) has found that a person infected with the novel coronavirus arrived on a Turkish Airlines 1061 flight in Ljubljana on 10 March at 8:45am. Fellow passengers are urged so monitor their condition and to limit their contacts with other people.
"The passengers on that flight are urged to closely monitor their health condition and seek the advice of their doctor over the phone if feeling unwell, have signs of a respiratory infection or fever," the NIJZ said in an urgent appeal.
Even if they do not have any symptoms, the passengers are advised to follow the advice on hygienic measures and to limit their close contacts and reduce social contacts that could lead to them passing potential infection.
The NIJZ detected the infected passenger in looking for contacts of a COVID-19 patient.
Foreign Ministry advises against all travel to Spain
STA, 14 March 2020 - The Slovenian Foreign Ministry has issued a travel alert on Saturday advising against all travel to Spain as the number of coronavirus cases continues to surge. All Slovenians in Spain have been advised to return home as soon as possible.
Since some airlines have already cut off links with individual European countries, the ministry said that Slovenian citizens currently in Spain should monitor the situation and contact airlines about their journey.
Spain today reported an increase of over 1,500 confirmed cases on Friday raising its total to 5,753 cases, the second-highest number in Europe after Italy.
The ministry again appealed on all Slovenians planning any travel abroad to reconsider their plans and postpone non-essential travel.
The ministry is advising in particular against travel to Italy, Iran, South Korea and China.
As US Donald Trump's travel ban from Europe to the United States has come into force, the Foreign Ministry advised all Slovenian citizens temporarily in the US to immediately return to Slovenia.
They are also being advised to follow the media and the local authorities' instructions, and to brace for potential delays.
Bookmark this link and keep up to date with all the latest on coronavirus and Slovenia
The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 13 March 2020
Mladina: Hoping for the best with Janša & COVID-19 far-right govt amid major crisis
STA, 13 March 2020 - Mladina says the hearings for ministerial candidates have shown Slovenia is getting a far-right government, the assurances of the coalition's two centrist parties notwithstanding. The left-wing weekly hopes new PM Janez Janša will live up to his reputation as a master of states of emergency, something he failed to do in 2012.
Editor in chief Grega Repovž starts by highlighting statements that Slovenia would try to join the Visegrad Group - "composing countries that pursue backward policies, interfere in the judicial branch, persecute the media and intellectuals and reject minorities" - that new fences will be erected on the Croatian border and that it would make sense to include members of an extremist group into the Slovenian army.
Repovž says that the Modern Centre Parts (SMC) and the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) did not even wince in the face of such announcements by the ministerial candidates of the Democrats (SDS) and New Slovenia (NSi), confirming the extreme candidates as appropriate and good.
This is happening as the world and Slovenia are facing one of the worst situations imaginable, says Repovž who hopes that these people with questionable views will nonetheless be capable of trusting the public sector in this situation and not use the circumstances to generate additional crises.
This will mostly depend on Janša, who has a reputation of thriving in states of emergency, but the past has shown "that it is in precisely such circumstances that this man creates panic and increases pressure time and time again".
"The last time we witnessed this was during the 2012 financial crisis, when he neglected serious economic polices to instead paint new disaster scenarios on a daily basis and portray the economy - which was struggling, banks included - as bankrupt," Repovž says in Janša Govt in Times of Anxiety.
Arguing it was his inexperienced successor Alenka Bratušek who actually protected Slovenia from the Troika, Repovž says one can really not say Janša performs well in such situations.
"But this does not mean we are not hoping things will be different this time around. After all, lives are at stake, to quote Janša himself."
Repovž goes on to urge the public to remain watchful of the actions of power holders, who often abuse extreme situations for steps that have a long-term impact on society and its prosperity.
This goes for politicians but also for international capital, which definitely sees the crisis as an opportunity to take over troubled companies and sectors. Whatever the government may be, it currently needs to act very prudently.
"That being said, Slovenia is short of experts in all areas and if Janša picks them on the basis of political affiliation, their numbers will be even smaller."
All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here
Reporter: Počivalšek won over Šarec
STA, 9 March 2020 - The right-wing weekly Reporter says in its commentary on Monday that the Modern Centre Party (SMC) head Zdravko Počivalšek had the best poker face in the game that has just played out in Slovenian politics and will soon see a new government taking over.
It is an art to persuade competitors that one has a good hand of cards when in fact the opposite is true and outgoing Prime Minister Marjan Šarec failed to do this.
He could not persuade Počivalšek that early elections were the best solution. "Počivalšek is the better bluff and even though he as well had a poor hand, he demolished Šarec."
Soon, Janez Janša will become prime minister a third time, but this would not have been possible without Počivalšek.
"Počivalšek is [the government's] main political godfather and he will de everything necessary for this government to remain in for the next two years, until regular election."
The question about what is behind Počivalšek's decision to switch sides, if anything at all, remains unanswered for now. "It is fact that Janša came to power very easily," the paper says, wondering whether this was really the consequence of MPs working to preserve their positions.
"Also because the network of [former President Milan] Kučan, Forum 21, is allegedly in shambles, even though Janša has recently been raging on twitter that this was not the case."
The paper says that Počivalšek may not be any more than a pawn of "the so called deep state". "To allow Janša to take power for a short while so that he will then be more easily defeated in election."
Under the headline Poker Face, the weekly says that estimates about the duration of this government vary greatly, indicating that estimates like these are often far off the mark.
All our posts in this series are here
Want to keep up with the numbers on COVID-19 and Slovenia in an easy to digest form, while also giving your Slovene a mild work out? Then bookmark this page from the National Institute of Public Health (Nacionalni inštitut za javno zdravjeh). It seems to be updated every afternoon, and shows the number of confirmed cases by age and gender, along with the location, by statistical region, where they reside. The image at the top of the story and the following screenshots are from today, so if here after 13 March just follow this link for the latest data.
All our stories on Slovenia and coronavirus are here, so also bookmark that link if you want to keep abreast of any and all developments on that issue.
Using the latest available figures (as of early afternoon, 13 March), Slovenia has 141 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with most being in Ljubljana. China still has the record, with 80,815, and Italy’s in second place with 15,113. But what do those numbers mean when taking into account the respective population sizes, and how does Slovenia compare globally?
To answer this we turned to the data collected and organised by worldometers.info’s dedicated coronavirus page, a site run by “an international team of developers, researchers, and volunteers with the goal of making world statistics available in a thought-provoking and time relevant format to a wide audience around the world”, and what seems to be a legitimate operation with up to date information. It’s here, after scrolling down to the data table, that we can see the number of confirmed cases per 1 million people, and find that Slovenia currently ranks 11th in world, with 67.8, between Sweden (74.4) and China (56.1).
The number of confirmed cases per 1 million people
However, Slovenia also ranks high in testing, having carried out a total of 4,346 tests for the virus at the time of writing, or around 2,170 per million residents. This compares with a total of 13,953 tests in the United States, or just 42.6 tests per million residents.
Related: How many hospital beds are there in Slovenia?
You can find all our stories on coronavirus and Slovenia here
At 14:00 the number of people in Slovenian who tested positive for COVID-19 was 141, and 4,346 tests have been performed. The National Institute of Public Health director Nina Pirnat explained that the regional distribution of cases was not yet available, but that the rising numbers are pointing towards Ljubljana.
She also stated that the pandemic has now entered the second phase in which the main goal is to make it possible for the health system to offer health care to every patient who is going to need it. Measures that are preventing social contacts among citizens have therefore been put in place in order to slow down the spread of the disease.
Pirnat also called on parents to make sure their children don't meet outside in bars and coffeeshops, now that the schools have been shut down, and that people should refrain from visiting nursing homes and thereby prevent the disease from entering the more vulnerable individuals inside. It is important that physical distance among people is maintained while outdoors as well.
Simona Repar Bornšek, state secretary at the Ministry of Health, explained that they were aware of cases of sick people in their homes, who are almost certainly infected but will not be tested as it doesn’t seem to be necessary. She mentioned the current system of taking swabs is overloaded and that new testing measures will be introduced soon.
Repar Bornšek also announced new measures within the health system, which will be introduced on Monday: all specialist examinations, surgeries, rehabilitations and other non-urgent health procedures will be cancelled except for cancer patients and pregnant women. Dentistry is cancelled by Monday as well, while seven emergency points for urgent cases will be introduced, although the locations were not announced.
She added that all government services are being shut down for two weeks in an attempt to avoid reaching a maximum load on the health system at once.
As for the question of who will be looking after younger school children whose schools shut on Monday, the state secretary at the Ministry of Education Martina Vuk explained that a decree has been signed which provides day care only for children of parents who are obligated to provide support in critical infrastructure or national security sectors. Such care will be provided to children in fifth grade and younger.
STA, 13 March 2020 - Seeing people rush to grocery stores for large purchases in recent days, the country's top officials are trying to assuage fears about food supply. The supply of essential goods is stable and reserves are being replenished or expanded where disruptions are expected, Agriculture and Food Minister Aleksandra Pivec says.
"We are presently not in a situation where large supply disruptions, with the exception of a few products perhaps, would be expected," Pivec told the 24ur evening news shows on POP TV on Thursday.
It is possible some alternative choices will have to be made in some cases, she added, while noting that "when it comes to meat, Slovenia does not have these problems". "If the supply with pork will be disrupted, chicken and beef will have to be resorted to," she illustrated.
Pivec, who is to stay on as agriculture, food and forestry minister in the Janez Janša government expected to be confirmed later today, said Slovenia's reserves secured supply with basic necessities for three months and that they were currently being replenished and expanded.
Outgoing PM Marjan Šarec also sees no reason for concern, telling TV Slovenija late on Thursday that "in case the tougher conditions persist for long, some tropical fruits will be in short supply". "But the important thing is that basic foodstuffs will be there and there is enough in the reserves."
His successor Janez Janša, who has indicated Slovenia will go into lockdown mode once his government takes over, called on people on Thursday to show restraint. He agrees it does make sense to create some reserves so as not to have to go to shopping centres every day, but overdoing it leads to others ending up empty-handed.
Janša said the state reserves will take care of the most urgent needs even if supply was disrupted for weeks or months, while he also announced the government would buy milk surpluses among other things.
The new government does not plan to close down shopping centres, with Janša arguing people are not ready for this and that it is not possible to activate alternative supply routes so quickly, even though these are being prepared.
All our stories on COVID-19 and Slovenia are here, so bookmark that link and we'll post news when we have it
STA, 13 March 2020 - After Slovenia instituted restrictions on lorries, trains and buses crossing the Slovenian-Italian border late on Thursday to contain the spreading of the coronavirus, long tailbacks of traffic are being reported on the border crossings. Lorries leaving the country are waiting more than 15 hours to cross the border.
The situation seems to be the worst at the Obrežje border crossing with Croatia at the moment, where drivers are waiting more than 18 hours to leave the country. At Gruškovje, the waiting time for vehicles going to Croatia is more than ten hours and at Zavrč seven hours.
At Središče ob Dravi, lorries have to wait five hours to exit the country, at Metlika three and at Dobovec one hour.
Hungary and Croatia had closed their borders for all vehicles coming from Italy without a prior notice.
Traffic congestion is now being reported also at the Pince border crossing with Hungary.
The trade union representing workers in transport said that basic necessities had been provided to drivers that are stuck in the congestion for hours without food, water or toilets.
Water and sandwiches are being distributed to them, and mobile toilets are also being set up along the motorway by the motorway company DARS.
Outgoing PM Marjan Šarec told last night's late news show Odmevi that the Foreign Ministry had requested information from Croatia on border measures but had not been "very successful".
"We'll thus continue trying to learn from Croatians what all this is about. The measure has of course caused big problems and this will have to be agreed between the governments beforehand in the future, because this is not the way to do it," Šarec said.
The incoming prime minister, Janez Janša, said on Thursday that Slovenia would have to follow the example of Serbia and Croatia regarding restrictions for cargo transport. He said he had already discussed the matter with Croatian PM Andrej Plenković.
Slovenia imposed a ban for trains, buses and lorries at 10pm last night but shipments of protective gear, medicines, humanitarian aid and mail packages are except.
All small border crossings with Italy are closed. The border crossings Rateče, Robič, Vrtojba, Fernetiči, Krvavi Potok and Škofije remain open but health checks are being conducted there.
All our stories on coronavirus are here
