STA, 23 October 2020 - Slovenia's Foreign Minister Anže Logar tested positive for the novel coronavirus in a routine test on Friday, the Foreign Ministry has announced, adding that he is not displaying any Covid-19 symptoms.

Following recommendations from the public health authorities, Logar and his closest aides who have been in contact with him will self-isolate for the next ten days, the ministry added.

Logar is Slovenia's highest-ranking official to have tested positive for the novel virus after the infection has so far been officially confirmed in two MPs and the Maribor mayor.

The news comes after the foreign ministers of Austria and Belgium, Alexander Schallenberg and Sophie Wilmes, both announced on Saturday to have tested positive.

Schallenberg's spokesperson said the minister might have caught the virus at the 12 October session of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg, which was also attended by Logar.

The Slovenian foreign minister wrapped up a tour of the Baltic countries in Lithuania on Thursday after he had already visited Latvia and Estonia in the previous two days.

Also today, Tadeja Šuštar, an MP for the coalition party New Slovenia (NSi), announced she had tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday.

In post on her Facebook profile the MP said she had taken a self-pay test as a precaution after receiving an alert from the coronavirus exposure app.

Her deputy faction said other NSi MPs were not self-isolating because they had strictly followed all precautionary measures while in contact with Šuštar, including wearing face masks and social distancing.

Despite the infection, the second after Social Democrat (SD) MP Gregor Židan tested positive while on holiday almost two weeks ago, the National Assembly continued proceedings as per usual today.

More Top Officials Caught Breaking Rules

STA, 23 October 2020 - Public Administration Minister Boštjan Koritnik and the public health chief Milan Krek are the latest officials to have been exposed by the media for apparently flouting coronavirus precautions.

According to a report by the commercial broadcaster POP TV, Koritnik visited a beauty salon while waiting for his coronavirus test result, which later turned out to be negative.

Meanwhile, Krek, the head of the National Institute of Public Health, was spotted filling up at a service station in Ljubljana without wearing a face mask on Thursday, TV Slovenija reported.

Krek confirmed the incident, explaining that he was tired and was not jeopardising anyone.

Koritnik told POP TV that he got himself tested on Thursday as a precaution after infections were confirmed at his ministry in the past week.

Since he did not have any direct contact with infected persons, he was not advised to self-isolate. As a rule those who get tested are advised to behave as if they were infected.

Koritnik's negative test result did not come back until Friday morning. Having a day off the day before, he visited a beauty salon, where POP TV said he also broke the government decree because five people were inside the salon at the same time.

"The premises are large, I was there with my life companion," Koritnik said in response.

The incidents follow after photos emerged of an unmasked National Council President Alojz Kovšca during a visit to the Slovenian minority in Hungary, and an unmasked Education Minister Simona Kustec attending a sports gala event.

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STA, 23 October 2020 - A total of 1,656 cases of Sars-CoV-2 were confirmed in 6,745 tests in Slovenia on Thursday, and two people died in hospital, said government spokesman Jelko Kacin. The number of active cases reached 11,434, according to the Covid-19.Sledilnik tracker, which also shows a near-record test positivity rate of 24.55% and a daily death tally of three.

Meanwhile, 394 people needed hospital treatment, of whom 67 were in intensive care, Kacin said at a press conference on Friday.

The highest number of active cases by far is seen in the Gorenjska statistical region (867), followed by Koroška (636) and Central Slovenia (574).

The virus also continues to spread in nursing homes, both among staff and residents. Janez Cigler Kralj, the minister in charge of social affairs, said at the press conference that all nursing homes with Covid-19 patients had set up isolation wards, while all homes have a crisis plan prepared for the case of an outbreak.

Meanwhile, a number of nursing homes are moving coronavirus-positive residents to facilities that are physically separated.

The nursing home in Slovenj Gradec will be moving nearly 40 residents to the thermal spa Terme Topolšica, while infected residents of the Škofja Loka nursing home have already been moved to a nearby school gym.

The Radovljica nursing home will meanwhile be moving an entire department of staff who tend to the elderly living at home, to a nearby fire station.

Cigler Kralj said at the press conference that he visited the gym in Škofja Loka on Thursday. The decision to move infected residents to a gym has been met with some criticism over the past days, but the minister said the accommodation was appropriate.

With hotels also being a possible solution to provide additional beds for Covid-19 patients, Cigler Kralj said not all hotels were suitable for the care for Covid-19-infected nursing home residents, whose average age is 84 and 80% of whom are bedridden.

Also addressing the press conference, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek said the government was in the final stages of talks with hotel operators, with many, above all thermal spas, promising to make available their capacities for Covid-19 patients. He said this would make several hundred beds available.

He also said that healthcare treatment, including physical therapy and similar services funded from public health insurance, which are frequently provided by hotels in thermal spas, remain allowed as of Saturday, when all other hotels and other similar facilities will have to close.

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STA, 23 October 2020 - The government has set more details regarding lockdown measures and exceptions to the ban on crossing Slovenia's statistical regions, as the whole country was declared a red zone on Thursday, including the coastal Obalno-Kraška region, the only one that was still orange-coded.

The government decided on Thursday that delivery of food, drinks, medications and basic necessities as well as room service will be allowed during curfew between 9pm and 6am. The curfew also does not apply for persons who are transiting the country or coming home from abroad.

The government also specified the rules for exceptions to the ban on crossing the regions for close family members, who can travel to another region together when going there to do maintenance or seasonal work on their property.

In line with the changed government decree, the exception applies for close family members such as a spouse, partner or a divorced spouse or partner who is paying alimony, their parents, legitimate or illegitimate child, adopted child or a child in the process of adoption, when they are travelling together.

The exception in place for providing care for a family member, now also applies for parenting and contacts with one's child.

On Saturday, Slovenia will go into a full lockdown for a week, meaning that hotels, shopping centres, and student dorms will close as well, with more details here.

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STA, 22 October 2020 - Slovenia will put in place new restrictions to limit the spread of coronavirus. Non-essential shops will be closed, as will hotels, kindergartens and student dormitories, with some exceptions, Prime Minister Janez Janša announced on Thursday. The measures, entering into force on Saturday, will initially be in place for a week.

The new measures come after wide-ranging restrictions, including a 9pm-6am curfew, an inter-regional movement ban, limited gatherings, remote education for most children, the closure of bars, and mandatory masks outdoors were already introduced in the past week.

While non-essential shops are closing, delivery, including from restaurants, will still be allowed. Kindergartens, which Janša says were closing to due a significant rise in infections among staff, will still be available for children whose parents work and cannot secure daycare, but Janša also called on employers to switch to work from home if only possible.

Student homes will be closing for all who do not have other accommodation next week, while public transport will be scaled down to a third of full capacity.

The border regime is not changing and transit will continue to be allowed, with Janša saying that no noteworthy import of the virus from other currently was presently being recorded.

While no additional restrictions are being introduced for sports activities - top-level competitions continue, while recreational sport is already mostly restricted to individual activities -hair and beauty salons are closing down.

The prime minister, who urged compliance with protective measures and stressed that Slovenia already braved such circumstances in the spring, explained that the situation would be re-evaluated after a week.

He noted that the option to limit movement to municipalities like was the case in the spring was still on the table. The government will decide on it in the coming days.

Janša said that daily confirmed Covid-19 cases continued to rise and would for a while, which is why it was too early to say whether the measures adopted recently would be enough to contain the spread.

He said the option of mass testing was being examined as well, first for high-risk groups and in the weeks after that for the entire population.

Janša announced that a taskforce is already drawing up gudilines for a new stimulus package and that the measures would be similar to those seen in the spring.

He said that next week, when the autumn holidays are scheduled for school children, will be "the week of the fight to stop the spread of the virus among us".

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STA, 22 October 2020 - Slovenia's coronavirus tally soared to another daily record on Wednesday as 1,663 infections were confirmed in a record 6,215 tests, show fresh government data. The test positivity rate remained above 25%. Nine Covid-19-related fatalities were recorded.

Initially it was reported that five persons infected with coronavirus died yesterday, however the government later tweeted that there were nine fatalities.

Hospitalisation numbers continue to rise as well. There were 357 patients in hospital yesterday, 24 more than on Tuesday, including 62 in intensive care, up by seven. A total of 32 were discharged home.

Data from the tracker site covid-19.sledilnik.org show that there are currently 10,136 active cases in the country. The incidence rate, the average number of cases per 100,000 residents over the past fortnight, is 484.

Gorenjska remains the statistical region with the highest incidence rate, 759, followed by Koroška and central Slovenia, heard today's government briefing.

The coastal Obalno-Kraška region, the only one still to be orange-coded, has had the lowest incidence rate, however the situation is worsening there as well. The incidence rate there is currently 131, nine points short of the threshold for red-listing the region.

Matjaž Jereb, head of the intensive care unit at the Department of Infectious Diseases at the UKC Ljubljana hospital, said via videolink that estimates show there are currently 15,000-20,000 active cases in Slovenia.

He pointed out that apart from rising hospitalisation figures, a major issue was also the virus spreading among healthcare staff. More than 100 health workers are infected at UKC Ljubljana, a ballpark figure, he said.

Jereb believes that a steep curve of new cases is a result of prevention measures being flouted and a critical mass of the infected surpassed.

Responding to Health Minister Tomaž Gantar's suggesting a complete lockdown to contain the epidemic, Jereb said the measure was an unpopular course of action due to its ramifications, however he believes "it would likely solve the problem".

He also commented on Slovakia's plan to test the entire population, deeming it impractical including due to limited lab capacities. He highlighted that heeding precaution measures was vital.

When it comes to the option of treating patients outside hospitals, in makeshift facilities, during extreme situations, Jereb said that would not be a wise decision in case of severely ill patients, however it could serve the purpose for less serious cases.

There has been some unclarity as to the number of Covid-related fatalities for Tuesday with the Health Ministry and tracker site data showing ten fatalities, while government spokesman Jelko Kacin and the government tweet yesterday reported eight deaths for the previous day.

The tracker site shows five fatalities rather than nine fatalities for Wednesday, so the overall death toll is not clear; tracker site has 207.

Germany puts all but one Slovenian region on red list

STA, 22 October 2020 - Germany has expanded its list of international risk areas, travellers from where need to undergo a 14-day quarantine, adding the Slovenian regions of Posavje and Goriška to leave only one Slovenian region out of the list.

As of Saturday, Posavje and Goriška will be on the list together with all other Slovenian regions except the Coastal-Karst region in the south west.

Germany started putting Slovenian statistical regions on the red list on 23 September, and updated it once more at the beginning of October.

Travellers coming to Germany from these regions may shorten their two-week quarantine by producing a negative test for Covid-19.

Germany's red list is determined by the federal ministries of health, interior and foreign affairs following opinions of the Robert Koch Institute based on the latest incidence data, as well as other criteria.

As of Saturday, all regions of Poland and Switzerland will also be on the list, as well as entire Austria with the exception of the state of Carinthia. Many other countries and regions have also been red-listed by Germany.

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STA, 21 October 2020 - There were technical issues preventing some students from participating in remote learning when students from grade 6 switched top remote learning on Monday. The authorities say the kinks have now been ironed out and the system is robust enough even if all students switch to remote learning.

On Monday many students reported having problems logging into accounts that were set up specifically to access online classrooms run by the Academic and Research Network of Slovenia (ARNES), which provides internet infrastructure for educational and research institutions in Slovenia.

On Tuesday there were still some glitches with the online classrooms, while today ARNES witness two distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks, at 8am, when most students were logging in, and again at 10am. The online classrooms were therefore unavailable for roughly 15 minutes, but both attacks were successfully deflected, ARNES said today.

ARNES director Marko Bonač provided assurances that the problems have been sorted out as he met with Education Ministry State Secretary Jure Gašparič today. "I hope it stays this way," he said.

Gašparič said the system was now "sufficiently robust and resilient" even if students from grades one to five of primary school were to switch to remote learning now.

Education Minister Simona Kustec expressed regret and said she expected the system will be stable in the future. "I hope that this was a beginners' mistake that will not happen again because it must not happen."

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STA, 21 October 2020 - Galleries, museums, archives and libraries will be the only cultural venues that are allowed to provide in-person services to visitors in most of Slovenia from Thursday, as changes to the respective government decree come into force. 

The decree limiting the offering and sale of goods and services to consumers due to the coronavirus epidemic was amended by the government in a correspondence session late on Tuesday in accordance with its previous announcements.

The changes apply to regions in which the rolling 14-day average of new coronavirus cases has exceeded 140 per 100,000 residents, which means all but the south-western region of Obalno-Kraška (currently at 100.9).

The ban is being extended from night clubs, which have not been allowed to reopen since the start of the epidemic in spring, to cinema theatres and cultural institutions, with the exception of galleries, museums, archives and libraries.

Skladno z novimi vladnimi ukrepi v Kinodvoru od danes ni projekcij. Zaprti sta tudi Kavarna in Knjigarnica.

Kupljene vstopnice za odpovedane projekcije bo možno zamenjati za projekcije istega filma, ko bomo določili nov datum, oz. vračilo denarja, ko bo blagajna spet odprta. pic.twitter.com/FiIYNp401D

— Kinodvor (@kinodvor) October 16, 2020

However, like other in-person businesses that remain open, they are required to follow the rule of one customer per 20 square metres.

The rule, which applies to stores and various offices and other public indoor spaces, is now being extended to hair and beauty salons, after the government initially limited them to one customer per salon.

However, if the premises are smaller than 20 square metres only one customer is allowed inside at a time.

Meanwhile, gyms remain closed in red-coded region, while the one customer per 20m2 applies to gyms in the sole orange-codded region.

The serving of food and drinks in hospitality establishments remains banned in red regions, except for takeaway and delivery services, while bars, cafes and restaurants in the Obalno-Kraška region can continue to serve customers at the tables between 6am and 9pm, provided a distance of at least 1.5 metres between customers that are not members of the same household.

Under the same conditions hospitality services are allowed in accommodation facilities in all regions, regardless of their coronavirus status. Hotels are allowed to remain open in as much they strictly follow coronavirus precaution standards.

Presenting measures at a press briefing on Wednesday, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek said the government was "doing all in our power to allow a semblance of normal life to continue", but that further measures would depend on the epidemiological status.

Slovenia saw a new surge in daily infections as the total case count increased by 1,503 on Tuesday to 15,983, of which 8,861 remain positive, and the death toll rose by eight to 200.

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At the British International School of Ljubljana staff, parents and pupils have started the transition to online learning, following the new government measures in effect from Monday 19^th October.  This transition for students to follow a full timetable of lessons online each day is just one of the stages that have been implemented by the school since the academic year started at the end of August 2020.

As with many schools, a thorough and detailed five-stage strategic plan had been created to enable the students to continue receiving a high-quality provision of education should there be an increase in Coronavirus cases. 

This plan included working closely with parents, staff and students to gather feedback, further enhancing onsite and online safety procedures, providing exciting online courses, developing the staff with a range of training opportunities, and then planning a seamless transition for students from the physical classroom to an online environment.  The school has also set up regular communication routines to celebrate student achievement, support individuals with their work, and to keep parents up to date with any advice or changes to guidance.

The online lessons include not just the academic classroom-based subjects such as English and Mathematics, but a full schedule of Performing and Visual Arts, Physical Education and Languages for the students to attend and enjoy.

A typical day might include English, Mathematics, and Slovene lessons before break, then Geography, Art and a Physical Education class with theory followed by a keep-fit session with all students actively involved before lunch, finishing the online school day with Music and Form time where students can reflect on their day with the support of their Form Tutor.  During this time, both physical and mental wellbeing are very important as students seek a balance between schoolwork and healthy living.  The students start the day with a brief video meeting with their Form Tutor for any urgent announcements, helpful organisation tips and group activities to complete before the online lessons begin.  This is an effective use of time to bring the students together, support with any concerns, and set a positive tone for the during this challenging time.

The students have thus far been incredibly mature, upbeat and receptive during the transition to online learning, and with a familiar timetable in place, the students can attend all classes online, revisit activities to consolidate learning or challenge themselves further to stretch ahead and learn more.  The lessons observed so far have had a real ‘buzz’, interest and excitement as many of the students are helping each other and continuing to develop their own technological expertise.  For parents, all curriculum plans are readily accessible, allowing them to see a complete overview of the units that the students will cover for the entire academic year, for every year group and every subject.

The Principal, Mr Paul Walton, commented, “We are very proud of the strategic plan we put in place from May 2020 when we returned to the school premises, we are now seeing the significant impact of all of the effort by our dedicated and passionate teachers.  Although initially this can be seen as extra work to improve policies, attend training sessions, and develop innovative online content, we can now see first-hand how the students are benefiting from this forward-thinking approach. It has also been a pleasure to support and share best practice with other schools here in Slovenia, as we are all working towards the same goal, I have been delighted to be able to contribute to this.”

In school, all events are held online, including a recent virtual coffee morning with the Principal, and useful workshops for parents to equip them with the tools to support their child’s learning at home further. Recordings of online events are then sent out to parents with further information.  They continue to follow the highest standards of hygiene and health and safety guidelines for the students and staff who continue to work in the building.

Positive feedback from our families at school reacting to the online learning transition and our communication.

In relation to this, during Thursday 15^th October, the school had its Ministry of Education visit as part of the nationwide checks on schools.  It received a 100% compliance result, including no further targets or areas to improve.  It included an interview with the Principal, a comprehensive check on policies, procedures and security, a tour of the site, visits to classrooms, checks of safety measures, signage/instructions for students to follow and other important preventative measures that schools are following during this time.  With the small class sizes at the British International School of Ljubljana, impressive quality of teaching and personalised learning methodology, they are able to create a very positive and safe environment for students to learn in.

The school has already received a large number of positive comments and encouraging feedback from parents on how the online provision has been set up, communicated swiftly and the ease of which the transition was handled.

The bridge connecting the two buildings is already visible and this new project will be a wonderful showcase entrance to the school building.   

Along with the developments in online learning, the school continues to grow with its new additional building progressing extremely well.  The new building will include a range of outstanding facilities to enhance the pedagogical opportunities offered for its students, such as a performing arts theatre with six sound proofed adjoining practice rooms, a robotics lab, computer suite, new library and large specialist classrooms.  The bridge connecting the two buildings is already visible and this new project will be a wonderful showcase entrance to the school building.   

The British International School of Ljubljana benefits from being part of the Orbital Education Group,  where there is a continued focus on offering a provision of high-quality education across all the schools. Find out more about the British International School of Ljubljana here.

Finally, the British International School of Ljubljana is hosting a Virtual Open Day for prospective families at 10am on Tuesday November 17 - find out more here if you are interested in joining the event. 

STA, 21 October 2020 - A record 1,503 Sars-CoV-2 infections were confirmed in Slovenia on Tuesday, up considerably from the previous daily high of 898, recorded on Friday, as the test positivity rate exceeded 25%, show the latest official data. In the deadliest day yet, eight Covid-19 patients died, raising the death toll to 200.

Covid-19 hospitalisations rose by 20 to 333 despite 32 patients being discharged yesterday. The number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care decreased by one to 55, but the number of those being mechanically ventilated increased by three to 41.

Presenting the latest figures at a press briefing that moved fully online, government spokesman Jelko Kacin said that 5,891 tests had been performed on Tuesday, which means the positivity rate hit 25.5%.

He said that new local virus hotspots were appearing across the country, in particular in the north-western region of Gorenjska, which has the highest incidence rate at the moment.

Data from the tracker site covid-19.sledilnik.org show that the latest cases bring the number of currently active cases to 8,860 and the total case count to 15,982. The rolling 14-day average per 100,000 residents has increased to 423.

The new surge comes after a series of new restrictions have come into effect, including a 9pm-6am curfew last night. Kacin said that while a great majority understood and abided by the measures, some individuals would not and would not help.

This was after a group of protesters gathered in Maribor late last night to demonstrate their opposition to the curfew. PM Janez Janša responded with a tweet in which he revealed that the number of new cases had already surpassed 1,100 and urged the protesters to "get serious".

Kacin, as well as Tatjana Lejko Zupanc, the head of the Infectious Disease Department of the Ljubljana UKC hospital, Slovenia's main Covid-19 facility, appealed on everyone to say at home as much as possible, and urged employers to enable their employees to work from home whenever possible.

However, Lejko Zupanc did not answer in the affirmative when asked whether she thought public life should be brought to a halt completely, noting that it had stopped in a way and that a shutdown of kindergartens, for example, would affect health staff, which was badly needed.

Asked whether Slovenia was reaching a point seen in Italy in spring when doctors would have to chose whom to treat as a priority, Lejko Zupanc said: "We're far from being there, and we'll prevent that if we can (...) I hope and believe we won't reach that point."

The official said the UKC Ljubljana medical centre was working on securing extra beds to cope with the expected influx in Covid-19 patients requiring hospital treatment. With the expansions, UKC Ljubljana will have 40 to 50 intensive care beds and 170 regular hospital beds, which should do to weather the crisis.

She said the medical centre had capacities for further expansion if needed, but a bigger problem was staff. Final year medical students, volunteers and retired health staff have been asked to help alleviate the burden on overworked staff, and staff reassignments between departments are planned.

Lejko Zupanc revealed that five children with Covid-19 were being treated at UKC Ljubljana and 92 adults. Twenty one are receiving intensive care, and most of them are on ventilators.

According to the Jožef Stefan Institute (IJS), Slovenia's reproduction number, showing how many people one infected person will pass the virus on to, has climbed to 2.18, while the epidemic has been spreading with a doubling time of 6.2 days.

The institute estimates that 1.5% of the population is currently infected or one in 70 people, and the share is rising fast.

In the first wave, about 1% of the people got infected. At the peak of the first wave 0.35% of the population was infected or one in 300 people.

In the second wave, 2.5% of the people have been infected so far or one in 40 people. In total, 3.5% of Slovenians have caught the virus so far or one in 30 people.

The IJS expects the measures introduced at the end of last week to start having an impact at the end of the week, while the measures that the government adopted on Tuesday should show next week.

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STA, 20 October 2020 - Jurist Andraž Teršek and lawyer Damijan Pavlin have filed a request for a constitutional review of the ban on movement among regions and the 9pm-6am curfew, claiming such measures are only possible if a state of emergency is declared.

"If a state of emergency is not declared and movement in an around the country is banned, this is unconstitutional," the pair argue.

Teršek, who recently ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Constitutional Court, told the STA that Article 32 of the Constitution secured everybody the right to move freely, choose their residence, leave the country and return at any time.

This right can be limited with an act, including with the aim of containing the spread of a communicable disease, if this is substantiated in a convincing fashion, if the measure is urgent and proportionate, but this still does not give the state the right to ban movement, Teršek and Pavlin argue.

This is only allowed in a state of emergency, with Article 16 saying a temporary lifting or limiting of human rights and basic freedoms is possible in a state of war and a state of emergency, albeit only to the extent required by the situation.

Thus, the communicable diseases act, which is used by the government as the basis for the ban, imparts on the state powers that are not permitted by the Constitution - it introduces a movement ban across the country without a state of emergency being declared, Teršek and Pavlin argue.

They believe that the legitimate goal of preventing and limiting the spread of the virus can be achieved with milder measures.

"The prohibition to drive from point A to point B and back is in itself not vital for preventing the spread of a communicable disease. It is not reasonable, appropriate or proportionate. The same applies for a walk, a bicycle ride, a walk in the woods, visiting a loved one or family member - all of whom are healthy. At the same time, everybody is living in 'the red zone' now," the pair moreover wrote.

"Vital reasons [for a ban] are still not being put forward - because they do not exist," Teršek and Pavlin say.

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