STA, 10 January 2022 - Several changes to the regulation on measures aimed at preventing the spread of Covid entered into force on Monday, cutting the duration of quarantine and validity of tests, and reducing the number of passengers in public transport in line with guidelines issued by the National Institute of Public Health.

From today, quarantine after a high risk contact or when entering the country without a Covid pass is cut from ten to seven days.

Under the new rules, to avoid quarantine when entering Slovenia, passengers who are vaccinated or recovered will need to present a negative PCR test no older than 48 hours or a rapid test no older than 24 hours.

The quarantine ordered at the border can be cut short with a negative PCR tests at least five days after arrival.

Buses will be allowed to accept only as many passengers as the vehicle has been registered for with the seats right of the driver and behind the driver empty.

Passengers will be allowed to stand in city buses if they stand at least one metre apart, except for persons from the same household. The standing spots must be clearly marked.

Passengers will only be allowed to enter at the front door, while other bus doors will only be used to exit.

Trains will be allowed to accept only as many passengers as they have seats, while the same rules as for buses are in place for standing room.

Special transport vehicles with up to eight seats will accept only six passengers, with the seat right of the driver free.

STA, 7 January 2022 - The government endorsed at Friday's correspondence session several changes to the decree on temporary measures aimed at preventing the spreading of Covid to cut the duration of quarantine and validity of tests, and cut the number of passengers in public transport in line with the guidelines from the National Institute of Public Health.

The changes will enter into force on Monday, the Government Communication Office (UKOM) said.

The quarantine after a high risk contact or when entering the country without meeting the required conditions will be cut from ten to seven days.

Under the new rules, to avoid quarantine when entering Slovenia, passengers will need to present a negative PCR test no older than 48 hours and a rapid test no older than 24 hours.

The rules regarding vaccination and reconvalescence remain the same.

The quarantine ordered at the border can still be cut short with a negative PCR tests at least five days after the arrival.

The government also lifted the stricter rules that have so far been in place for arrivals from some South African countries because of Omicron. The list of these risky countries has also been scrapped.

As of Monday, buses will be allowed to accept only as many passengers as the vehicle has been registered for with the seats right from the driver and behind the driver empty.

Passengers will be allowed to stand in city buses if the distance between them is at least one metre, except from persons from the same household. The standing spots must be clearly marked.

Passengers will only be allowed to enter at the front door, while other bus doors will only be used to exit the bus.

Trains will be allowed to accept only as many passengers as they have seats, while the same rules as for buses will be in place for standing.

Special transport vehicles with up to eight seats will accept only six passengers, with the seat right from the driver free.

Public transport services providers have until Monday to prepare for the new rules, UKOM said.

STA, 6 January 2022 - The government has expanded exceptions from quarantine at home after a high-risk contact with a person infected with Covid-19 to persons who have gotten a booster shot, who got Covid fewer than 45 days ago or who have recovered from Covid and have been fully vaccinated. Quarantine has meanwhile been shortened from ten to seven days.

The changes to the relevant decree, which will start to apply on 10 January, were adopted at a correspondence session on Thursday based on a proposal from the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ).

A person will not be sent to quarantine at home after a high-risk contact after they have received a booster shot of either the Biontech/Pfizer or the Moderna vaccine for Covid-19.

Also exempted from quarantine at home in these cases are persons who have recovered from Covid-19, which they prove with a positive PCR test older than ten days, and who have received two shots of the Biontech/Pfizer, Moderna, Sputnik V, Sinovac, Sinopharm, AstraZeneca, Covishield or Covaxin vaccines or a combination of these vaccines.

This also applies for persons who have received one shot of the Janssen vaccine.

Health Minister Janez Poklukar meanwhile told the press in Brdo pri Kranju after the government's meeting with business representatives that NIJZ epidemiologists had proposed quarantine after a high-risk contact be shortened from ten to seven days.

The government has not put this in the decree as, according to Poklukar, "this follows from recommendations from epidemiologists and will start to be implemented next Monday under this protocol".

The minister added that NIJZ representatives would present an expert basis for this decision on Friday.

It has been proposed that quarantine would conclude without PCR testing, with Poklukar noting on Wednesday that almost 95% of infections showed within that period, which was why quarantine could be concluded without additional testing.

STA, 5 January 2022 - Slovenia ranked second among 23 selected member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in terms of how well it has coped with the economic aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic crisis, according to a ranking by The Economist, the UK weekly.

Analysts at the British economic liberal weekly used five criteria for the rankings, comparing values in the last quarter of 2019 and in the third quarter of 2021, or the period for which the latest data were available.

The five criteria were real GDP growth, real growth in household disposable income, growth in share prices according to the most relevant stock market index, growth in fixed investment and growth in net public debt as a share of GDP.

Slovenia recorded a 1.2% real GDP growth, a 10.1% real growth in household disposable income, a 33% growth in share prices, a 6.8% growth in fixed investment and a 7.4% growth in net public debt as a share of GDP.

According to the Economist, the Slovenian economy has done 2nd best during the pandemic?

I'm curious about how & why.

It's quite a terrific achievement if the numbers are correct ? #Slovenia https://t.co/h7TFDZJLxt pic.twitter.com/uXl3OTCYUk

— Aleksej Kulikov (@alekseykulikov_) January 4, 2022

The top spot in the rankings was claimed by Denmark, followed by Slovenia in second and Sweden, Norway and Chile rounding off the top five. Meanwhile, the last five places in the rankings were taken by Austria, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and Spain.

The Finance Ministry noted that The Economist ranked Slovenia among the Covid-19 pandemic winners. "The efficacy of the government policies is also being confirmed by the stability of Slovenia's credit ratings during the pandemic," it said.

The opposition Social Democrats (SD) meanwhile responded by saying that Slovenia was not among the winners of the Covid-19 pandemic, as it had had too many victims and had posted economic results that could not be bragged about.

The party took issue with The Economist noting a 7.4% growth in net public debt as a share of GDP for Slovenia, saying that this was not accurate. "The real figure is growth of the share of debt in GDP that is double of that, i.e. 14%."

If it was true that the government has more fiscal space than it has, it would now officially declare an epidemic, implement measures to mitigate inflation of energy prices, reduce VAT and introduce energy vouchers," the party said.

The SD added that "none of this is being implemented, and instead we only have selective measures for pre-election purposes and for selected groups."

STA, 5 January 2022 - Education Minister Simona Kustec is aware that with Covid infections rapidly rising in the country, the situation at the end of this week or the start of next will be hard, but she does not expect schools to switch to distance learning.

The Education Ministry's stance is that instruction should take place at schools in person in a safe manner, and she hopes that strictly adhering to protective measures will result in schools and kindergartens being able to proceed with in-person education, Kustec told the press in Ljubljana on Wednesday.

She said that medical experts will be asked to propose tightening anti-coronavirus measures before proposing closing schools.

"We are aware that difficult days are coming and that some schools could have problems due to their staff falling ill with Covid or having to quarantine. If need be, only individual schools would switch to distance learning."

Kustec said that the ministry was following the situation very closely, and was constantly in contact with the National Institute of Public Health.

She also said that around 1% of the school population did not come to school as their parents opposed rapid testing or mask wearing in classroom. As for grading these children, she said they cannot be graded at the moment because they do not come to the classroom.

Kustec commented on the Advocate of the Principle of Equality's finding that the ministry had violated a ban on discrimination by not awarding a special-needs student an assistant for the period of home schooling while she had had one while in classroom.

The minister regretted this had happened, saying the case concerned "a very difficult individual story". She added that similar cases should be addressed in a humane manner to find optimal solutions, saying she could comment in more detail only once she receives a report she asked for.

Kustec meanwhile declined to answer a question about her future political career or whether should she stand in the general election in the spring, saying she would limit herself to topical issues at the news conference that was dedicated to achievements of Slovenia's EU presidency.

STA, 5 January 2022 - Slovenia logged 4,068 coronavirus infections that are picked up through testing on Tuesday, the highest daily case count since mid-November, as the Omicron variant fuels another wave of infections. The 7-day average of daily cases topped 2,000 and the 14-day incidence per 100,000 people exceeded 1,000, show fresh official data.

Data released by the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) show the 7-day average increased by 311 to 2,058, and the 14-day incidence currently stands at 1,086, up by 133.

Hospitalisations increased by 11 to 542 on the previous day. A total of 160 Covid patients needed critical care this morning, down by two, shows the government's coronavirus dashboard. Another six people with Covid died.

A total of 23,041 people are estimated to be actively infected, up by some 2,800 compared to yesterday's estimate.

The test positivity rate stood at about 38% yesterday, up by some seven percentage points week-on-week, as the number of new daily cases more than doubled compared to Tuesday a week ago

See the latest data here

STA, 3 January 2021 - Due to enhanced spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus all Covid measures are on the table and will be discussed this week, Health Minister Janez Poklukar told the press on Monday, adding that the best solutions for the health system and society in general would be sought. 

If the measures are not socially acceptable they do not serve their purpose, Poklukar said.

He noted that a rise in the number of quarantine orders was expected in the coming days due to the quick spread of Omicron, which could hinder work processes not only in healthcare but in other areas as well.

Since data show that the average Omicron's incubation period is 2.5 days, the minister asked epidemiologists whether the quarantine could be cut from ten to five days if the person tests negative for coronavirus.

The National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) told the STA the epidemiologists had discussed the matter last Friday, agreeing that cutting the quarantine short would not make sense at this point, as Delta is still the predominant variant.

But talks on this will probably continue this week, the NIJZ said.

Poklukar also expects the rules on quarantine to probably change because of Omicron in the coming days and weeks.

As for the quarantine for children, who cannot receive booster shots yet and can thus not avoid quarantine, Poklukar said he had held informal talks with the NIJZ regarding this, but for now the rules remain the same.

Although different information about the new variant is coming from other countries, including that Omicron causes fewer hospitalisations than Delta, Poklukar warns that hospital capacities are not as occupied in many countries due to higher vaccination rates, while in Slovenia 173 Covid patients were in intensive care this morning, two-thirds of the fourth-wave peak.

Although Covid vaccines offer slightly lower protection against Omicron, the minister stressed that vaccination was still sensible.

Latest research shows that cell immunity remains also after vaccination with viral vector vaccines, so the rise in hospitalisations may not be as big as it initially seemed, he said.

Asked whether obligatory vaccination may be introduced and the recovered-tested-vaccinated rule changed to recovered-vaccinated, Poklukar said he was waiting for guidelines from experts.

"When we receive guidance, we will discuss their implementation with other segments of the society," he said.

The college of epidemiologists at the NIJZ unanimously decided last week that they cannot support the introduction of mandatory vaccination for now, citing an absence of legal basis and questions about implementation.

Under the communicable diseases act, the health minister could put vaccination against Covid into the list of obligatory vaccinations at the proposal from the NIJZ.

The NIJZ stresses the importance of testing and the availability of free self-testing kits for the entire population.

STA, 24 December 2021 - The Slovenian Medical Association has urged the authorities to impose mandatory vaccination against Covid-19 in order to return the healthcare system to normal.

"We believe it is urgent to protect all patients and give them access to medical services that they had prior to the epidemic," the association said on Friday.

It said individual freedom was circumscribed with the freedom of others. "The unvaccinated are a threat to vaccinated yet immunologically frail individuals, which is not ethical. The medical science offers vaccination as the only successful measure."

Vaccination may not offer full-proof protection, but most vaccinated individuals have mild symptoms, which makes it possible to treat more patients with other illnesses, said the voluntary society of doctors and dentists that boasts over 4,000 members.

Health Minister Janez Poklukar said as he commented on the call that he was happy that discussions had been launched in recent days on mandatory vaccination and the recovered-vaccinated (PC) rule and the future status of the unvaccinated people.

Speaking at a press conference dedicated to a vaccination campaign, Poklukar said society would have to take a position on this, and that it would need to be as united as possible in this regard.

In addition to medical professionals, which would say, for instance, what vaccination rate is needed, professionals in other fields such as sociology and law would also have their say in determining the methods for how to achieve this.

The minister noted that the neighbouring countries were already making decisions that certain segments of society must meet the PC condition, adding that this was not only a matter for the health minister but "for all of us."

Over 76,500 jabbed during Vaccination Days

STA, 24 December 2021 - More than 76,000 shots of coronavirus vaccines were delivered during the Vaccination Days, a special campaign between 19 and 23 December during which some vaccination centres were open around the clock. The vast majority were booster shots.

Nearly 5,000 received their first shot, almost 7,500 the second shot and 64,000 got booster shots, Health Minister Janez Poklukar told the press on Friday.

Data by the tracker Covid-19 Sledilnik indicates that vaccination was more than double the usual rate during the campaign.

According to Poklukar, the vaccinations are estimated to have saved 2,000 people from being hospitalised and prevented 500 ICU admissions and 300 deaths.

"The goal of the campaign was to raise the vaccination rate and protect hospitals from caseload in the coming days and weeks, when the omicron variant will become prevalent," he said.

STA, 23 December 2021 - The government has introduced new restrictions around gatherings and reduced the validity of tests, but it also paved the way for New Year's Eve celebrations for those who are tested, regardless of vaccination status.

Under a decree adopted on Thursday and set to take effect on Friday, there will be no outdoor celebrations on New Year's Eve.

Parties will however be allowed at indoor venues, as the bar curfew was lifted just for that night. All guests, including reconvalescent and the vaccinated, will have to produce a test no older than twelve hours.

For guests that are not tested beforehand, indoor venues like bars or restaurants will be required to provide rapid antigen testing immediately upon arrival.

The government says it is harder to control compliance at outdoor revelling than at indoor parties. "As the Omicron variant spreads, we cannot afford elevated risks to people's health," said Polona Rifelj, a state secretary at the prime minister's office.

For Christmas and New Year's, private gatherings of members of no more than three households will be allowed. All guests over six years of age are recommended to test.

New restrictions beyond the New Year's Eve celebrations include a shorter validity of tests. PCR tests will be valid for 48 hours and rapid antigen tests 24 hours, respectively down from 72 and 48 hours.

The number of participants in cultural and sports events will be capped at 750. A Covid pass and face mask remain mandatory for all visitors, according to government spokeswoman Maja Bratuša.

Meanwhile, the limit of one customer per 10 square metres of floor space for all shops has already entered into force today, as the holiday shopping spree reaches its peak.

The government also extended the partial reimbursement of income for workers who were quarantined or absent from work due to force majeure, such as childcare. The measure was put in place for the period from 1 July to 31 December 2021, and is now extended until the end of February 2022.

"With this measure, we are helping the most vulnerable part of the economy, like the self-employed, founders of cooperatives, and farmers," said Polona Rifelj. The reimbursements range from EUR 250 for 10 days' absence to EUR 750 for the whole month.

STA, 23 December 2021 - Another 1,124 people tested positive for coronavirus in Slovenia on Wednesday, down 16.5% from the same day a week ago as well as 2.5% fewer than the day before. Ten more Covid-19 patients died, follows from official data.

Government data shows the number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals declined further to 624, including 203 in intensive care. This marks a decline of 25 and three, respectively, from yesterday.

With ten more deaths yesterday, the death toll from Covid-19 has increased to 5,958, according to data released by the Health Ministry.

The National Institute of Public Health estimates 16,700 people are still actively infected in the country, down 556 from the estimate on the previous day.

The 7-day average of new daily cases fell to 1,114, down 31 from the day before, and the cumulative 14-day incidence per 100,000 people is at 791, down by 27.

Of the 4,929 PCR tests performed yesterday, almost 23% were positive.

Vaccination data shows only boosters take-up is proceeding apace with 426,527 now getting additional shots.

Meanwhile, 1,245,897 have got their first jab and 1,183,969 have been fully vaccinated, representing 56% and 59% of the population, respectively.