STA, 20 April 2020 - As a string of retail and services establishments reopened on Monday the demand for the services was not excessive. It was quite busy at tyre replacement shops but not as busy as expected, the Slovenian Automobile Association (AMZS) said. The Chamber of Craft and Small Business (OZS) would like bars and restaurants to reopen on 15 May.

Today DIY stores, car showrooms, stores selling bicycles, technical goods and furniture, dry cleaners and some repair shops, including tyre replacement shops resumed their operations after being shut down for five weeks.

Jurij Kočar of the AMZS said that because of high demand for such services working hours would be extended somewhat in the next few days.

Vehicle inspection stations were full of customers this morning but then the situation calmed down. Bogdan Poljanšek, who is in charge of insurance, vehicle inspection and registration at the AMZS, said drivers seem to have considered the fact that registration documents will not expire until 16 June.

Avtotehna Vis said its car salons opened their door today but were not crowded.

In contrast, DIY store Bauhaus saw an exceptional turnout, but CEO Samo Kupljen said this had been expected. "That's why we increased our sales teams," he said.

The government closed all shops bar grocery stores, pharmacies, banks, post offices, petrol stations, newsstands and stores selling agricultural products on 16 March. Pet food shops reopened on 21 March and florist shops and nurseries on 3 April.

Yet more services will be available from 4 May, with the reopening of hair salons, beauty parlours, dog and cat grooming salons and shops of up to 400 m2 sales space, except for those in shopping centres.

Further easing of measures is expected after the results are in of a comprehensive random testing of the population for coronavirus starting today.

The OZS is pushing for the reopening of bars and restaurants as of 15 May, following Austria's example. All activities would have to be conducted in line with health recommendations, it added.

"Since the season allows this, we would provide for additional safety of guests and staff by serving guests outdoors, on terraces," Blaž Cvar of the OZS said in a press release.

The hospitality sector will be particularly affected by the epidemic and the recovery will be lengthy, the OZS said, proposing extension of state measures for the sector for the next six months and cutting the VAT rate on beverages.

All our stories on coronavirus are here, while those covering covid-19 and Croatia are here. We'll have an update at the end of the day, and if you want newsflashes then we'll post those on Facebook

We can’t have pictures of COVID-19 every day. So instead we’ll try and show the works of Slovenian artists. Today it’s Daša Šeruga, with one of a series of posters from Tam Tam, as seen here.

Contents

Three more die of Covid-19, bringing national death toll to 77

Gradual return to sports accompanied by extensive warnings

Fines issued due to lockdown violations totalling EUR 32,000

Latest estimates value second stimulus package at EUR 2.8bn

Three more die of Covid-19, bringing national death toll to 77

STA, 20 April 2020 - Three more Covid-19 patients died in Slovenia on Sunday, bringing the official national death toll 77. Only five new coronavirus cases have been confirmed, raising the tally to 1,335, fresh data from the government show.

The number of new cases as a rule drops at weekends because fewer people are tested, but the country has been seeing a steady decline in new cases for a while now.

On Sunday, 537 tests were performed, which brings the total of tests so far conducted in the country to 41,802.

A total of 88 Covid-patients were being treated in hospitals on Sunday, 26 of them in intensive care units. One was discharged from hospital, which means 193 Covid-19 patients have so far returned home from hospital.

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Gradual return to sports accompanied by extensive warnings

STA, 20 April 2020 - A limited number of outdoor sports facilities, including tennis courts, golf courses and bowls pitches, were reopened for use as part of a softening of lockdown measures on Monday. Extensive safety instructions accompanying the return to sports however also reveal the impact the virus will have for some time to come.

While group sports remain forbidden, the new coronavirus reality will also leave a strong mark on individual sports that seem risk-free at first glance.

One of the more detailed safety lists, containing many of the measures also advised for other sports, has been published by the Tennis Association, which stressed that persons noticing any signs of infection still need to stay from courts and that these are only open for recreational purposes.

Changing rooms and locker rooms will be closed, while the players are also advised against changing their shirts during or after the match.

Toilets will be closed in case the provider cannot secure regular disinfection, states the association's safety list, which consists of 34 items in total.

No doubles matches are allowed and crossing over to the opponent's side to check the validity of a close call on what are mostly red clay tennis courts in Slovenia is strongly discouraged as well.

Another issue that implies more work for tennis club owners is posed by the cleaning of the court after a match, as players are no longer allowed to touch the nets used to even out the clay surface. The restriction applies to all court maintenance equipment.

Litter bins and loitering at the club house are off limits, while special post-match care also applies to the balls, which should be left in the container for 72 hours.

Finally, players will have to make do without one of the key rituals of the sport, the post-game handshake.

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Fines issued due to lockdown violations totalling EUR 32,000

STA, 20 April 2020 - The Health Inspectorate has launched more than 2,900 procedures and issued fines worth more than EUR 32,000 to people breaking the restrictions in place to slow down the coronavirus epidemic in Slovenia. It received over 110 reports of suspected violations directly from individuals and many more from the police.

The health inspection service has been cooperating with the police in enforcing the decrees on lockdown measures and performing field inspections.

During the epidemic, the inspectorate is the only authority that may initiate procedures and issue fines for violations of movement restrictions and the gathering ban.

The cases processed so far have been mostly referred to the inspectorate by the police and involved individuals. Almost 300 fines have been issued, totalling more than EUR 32,000, the health authority told the STA on Monday.

Over the weekend, the police received a total of 199 reports of alleged violations. Moreover, police officers reported 571 violations themselves on Saturday and Sunday, giving 513 warnings and referring 661 cases to the inspectorate, show police data. Most violations occurred in the Ljubljana and Celje areas.

The police have so far received 1,825 reports and determined more than 5,860 violations by itself, issuing almost 3,970 warnings and referring some 4,820 cases to the health inspection service, including 58 violations of the protection of public order act.

To stem the COVID-19 spread, the government has imposed a number of lockdown measures, including a ban on movement outside one's municipal unit. Since Saturday, the restriction has been eased to a certain degree, allowing maintenance and seasonal works at private properties in other municipalities.

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Latest estimates value second stimulus package at EUR 2.8bn

STA, 20 April - Coming out of Monday's coordination meeting for the emerging new coronavirus emergency package, coalition members explained the current total value of the envisaged measures, focusing on securing liquidity for businesses, was EUR 2.8 billion.

Reports on the liquidity measures, coming after a EUR 3 billion stimulus package seeking to prevent job loss and protect vulnerable groups, so far mentioned EUR 900 million to be given at the disposal of companies in the form of loans, guarantees and guarantee schemes. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) spoke of EUR 2 billion in one statement.

The coalition discussed today changes to the first package and the new stimulus, both of which the government hopes to finalise today and on Tuesday and have ready for adoption in parliament on 28 and 29 April.

The deputy group head of the senior coalition Democrats (SDS) Danijel Krivec also announced a third package today saying "it will seek to kickstart growth while the measures will secure investment in infrastructure and might also include additional measures for tourism".

The Agriculture Ministry said today the third package was also to include measures for the agriculture and food sector, primarily focussing on new investment, plant production and boosting food self-sufficiency.

Coalition partners were mostly content today with the degree to which their proposals had been incorporated into the new package, but many raised the issue of tourism, which is likely to continue to struggle even after other sectors pick up.

Janja Sluga of the Modern Centre Party (SMC) said tourism should be approached "in a more comprehensive matter". She meanwhile also suggested not enough had been done for self-employed culture workers.

Still being coordinated are provisions laying down the extent to which loans taken out by companies to bridge the crisis are to be covered with state guarantees.

Franc Jurša of the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) revealed that small companies would probably get 80% guarantee coverage and large companies 70%.

Coalition parties can still forward their proposals to the government today to be studied by government task forces. The government is expected to endorse amendments to the first corona package and the draft second corona bill on Tuesday, so they could be discussed by the parliamentary finance committee on Friday or Saturday. The motions should be put up for a vote in parliament on 28 and 29 April.

The part of the opposition which was critical of the first corona epidemic legislative package is displeased with the draft second package as well.

MPs of the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ), Social Democrats (SD) and the Left pointed to the "still forgotten groups of citizens" and unclarity about state guarantees.

Brane Golubović of the LMŠ said the package did not bring solutions for the most problematic sector - the hospitality and tourism sector. He also wants to know whether the EUR 2 billion in planned state guarantees included those planned for the Koper-Divača rail project, the housing scheme and the north-south expressway.

Matjaž Han of the SD warned that all companies in need of aid would still not receive it. He too pointed to the problems of the hospitality and tourism sector, which would have long-term problems with hiring.

Miha Kordiš of the Left said that a large part of precarious workers, the unemployed and tenants were still being left out.

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Do foreigners in Slovenia feel more or less safe sitting out covid-19 here than in their home country, and what are their experiences? All the stories in this series are here. If you' like to contribute, see here or at the end of the story

Tell us a little about yourself.

I am from Manchester in England and have lived in Slovenia now for 25 years. With my husband, we came in search of a different, in our view better, quality of life, which we definitely found. I love the pace of life, that there’s always time for a coffee, the fresh food on Ljubljana Market, the beautiful countryside that’s constantly around us and the generosity and friendliness of people.

For 20 years now I have been running my own Learning and Consultancy business, Fast Forward International d.o.o. My passion is bringing humanity to the heart of organisations by empowering individuals to be their best selves, teams to think and act as one and leaders to inspire and empower.

To achieve this we provide soft skills workshops, individual coaching, long term change programmes along with tools and programmes for Emotional and Relationship Intelligence. You can see more on our web site or connect with us on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Tell us a little about your situation and sanity levels.

I am home with my husband since 14th March, we live in a large old house near Velike Lašče in which we have our own apartment, a learning centre where we run some of our workshops and coachings and an office where four of us are usually based. This means right now, we have plenty of space, including a balcony that gets lots of sun, so I would say we’re doing really quite well. 

I have embraced the change and am making good use of this time to help and support others with the tools and knowledge we have from our work, which gives me a sense of purpose and meaning that I enjoy. This has included developing a series of short videos, that help people to ‘Thrive, not just survive’ in this time, that are freely available on You Tube. The aim is to help as many people as possible, so share as you wish.

We’re in regular touch with our families in the UK, chatting with friends online and enjoying more time for cooking, reading and relaxing. With the lovely weather we’re having and time to sit on the balcony, its actually quite a pleasant time :)

What do you think about the economic measures the government is taking, are they helping your business?

We looked into these, but as we are continuing to work, although differently, we decided to simply reduce our costs as much as possible for a while and develop new services that work well and support people at the moment. As our coaching and one-to-one services are the most suitable for this, it has meant us learning new Apps and tools to work with which is also good for the longer-term future. 

When did you realise that coronavirus was going to be a big issue?

I think seeing what was happening in Italy and how close this was to us, as well as people we knew who were quarantined in various other countries. At this time, I started to follow more ‘scientific reports’ as well as the coronavirus regular updates on Total Slovenia News, which were practical and informative and great to have in English. I also began to know people who had the virus and this helped in understanding how important the isolation measures were.

What is your impression of the way Slovenia is dealing with the crisis?

I am impressed with what I see as decisive and necessary actions, quickly implemented and enforced, in a step-by-step way as appropriate. More importantly I’m also impressed with how people are mostly following the precautions, and local communities are also helping their neighbours while keeping their distance. So yes, I feel safe, I am only exposed for shopping once a week, and this is also managed well in our local supermarkets with only a few people in the shop, everyone wearing masks and staying well apart.

Now compare that to the UK and how they’re handling it there.

The UK seems a little behind us and not as disciplined as here in Slovenia. I hope this will change soon. Of course, there’s a lot more people which makes it more difficult. I think the UK does not want to ‘impose’ rules, rather expects people to be responsible and play their part, which many people are doing. Unfortunately, some not, and with such a big population, even a small percentage could be a big problem. making containment of the virus more difficult and therefore longer lasting with more possible deaths, which is very sad.

What about official communications from the authorities, compared to your home country?

I’m not following any official channels in the UK, just the news, but our families there are well informed and know what to do. Here friends update us and Total Slovenia News is our main source of official updates in English, which works really well

What's the one thing you wish you had taken with you into self-isolation.

Honestly, I cannot think of anything I miss at home, except people. Seeing and chatting with friends and family online is great, but I’ll also be glad when we can see each other face-to-face again. Otherwise we’re looking forward to being able to shop on Ljubljana market again, having a coffee by the river after shopping and meeting friends for a drink and a chat.

One thing you have learned about yourself, and one thing you have learned about others during this crisis.

For myself I am learning how much I love and appreciate my life, how important family and friends are and that I am actually quite happy at home, just spending time with my husband. 

For others I observe that the situation brings out more of who we are, so our true colours show themselves more clearly, for better or for worse. Fortunately, mostly for the better.

You can see of Pam’s work on her web site or connect on Facebook and LinkedIn.

STA, 17 April 2020 - Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec has approved a 50% reduction in port fees for Luka Koper, the operator of Slovenia's only seaport. Talking to the press as he visited the port on Friday, Vrtovec said that this "discount" would remain in place until September and would be extended if necessary.

The goal is to preserve the port's competitive edge in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, with CEO Dimitrij Zadel expressing satisfaction with the move. Vrtovec believes the reduction in fees will attract international shipping companies.

Zadel said that similar measures to increase the competitive edge had also been introduced at other ports and that this brought the Koper port on par with others. Vrtovec also praised the company for taking adequate precautionary measures, as none of its workers had tested positive for Covid-19.

Moreover, the ministry will also approve subsidies for railway transport in short, similar to other countries, said Vrtovec.

The minister also commented on the construction of a second rail track to the port, confirming that the ministry was looking into the possibility of folding 2TDK, a special vehicle company established for the construction and management of the new track, into Slovenske Železnice, the national railway operator.

However, a definitive answer to this will be possible only after analyses are performed and Slovenske Železnice and other key players are consulted, in about a month or two.

Vrtovec dismissed information that Hungary may join the second track project, saying no talks were taking place, but he underlined the importance of countries in the hinterland for the development of Luka Koper.

In terms of the coronavirus epidemic measures, Vrtovec would not say when public transport may be relaunched. He said however that the government may decide as early as today that vehicle inspection services reopen on Monday.

All our stories on coronavirus, and the restrictions that will be lifted in the coming week, are here

STA, 19 April 2020 - Slovenia's official Covid-19 death toll has increased to 74 after four more fatalities were recorded on Saturday. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose by 13 for a total of 1,330, but only 685 tests were conducted on Saturday, only half the number the day before, show fresh official data released on Sunday.

A total of 90 Covid-patients were being treated in hospitals on Saturday, 26 of them in intensive care units. That is three and one fewer, respectively, compared to the day before. Two people were discharged from hospital yesterday, according to data released by the government.

Of the 13 new cases recorded on Saturday, five were at the Ljutomer care home, one of the virus hotspots in the country, where the overall number of those who tested positive for the novel coronavirus has risen to 110, including 81 residents, 22 staff and seven external staff helping in, the care home told the STA.

A total of 41,265 tests have so far been performed in Slovenia and a total of 192 Covid-19 patients have been discharged from hospitals.

Comprehensive Random Testing for Covid-19 Starts Monday in Slovenia

STA, 19 April 2020 - Slovenia is to launch a comprehensive random population testing for Covid-19 on Monday after invitations to take part have been sent to 3,000 people picked in a representative sample.

The first such survey in Slovenia is to give the authorities a reliable estimate of the extent of the coronavirus epidemic in the country and help them plan the way out of the lockdown.

The sample of people to be tested has been prepared by the Statistics Office (SURS) in cooperation with the Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences.

SURS says the sample consists of randomly selected 3,000 residents of Slovenia of all ages and is representative by age, gender and territorial breakdown of Slovenia.

In the first phase, SURS randomly selected 300 areas in Slovenia and in the second ten people from each of those areas were picked.

This way the survey results should enable generalisations regarding the extent of the spread of the novel coronavirus in Slovenia's entire population, SURS said.

Miroslav Petrovec, the head of the Institute for Microbiology and Immunology at the Ljubljana Faculty of Medicine, has told the STA that quite a few people have contacted them in recent days expressing their wish to be involved in the survey.

However, Petrovec says that, to ensure a representative sample, only those who have been invited can take part, but not their relatives or neighbours instead of them or those who might like to.

Nevertheless, the expert, who is a member of the Health Ministry's advisory group, did not rule out the possibility of a survey being conducted based on voluntary applications in the future.

Petrovec called on everyone who does get the invitation - these were sent out after the national commission for medical ethics gave its final go-ahead on Friday - to respond to the contact telephone number or e-mail address.

Those agreeing to testing will be visited by technicians at home, to be swabbed for the presence of the virus SARS-COV-2 as well as give blood samples for a serological test for antibodies. "Giving samples will not hurt," Petrovec promised.

Asked what would happen in case of insufficient response from those invited, Petrovec said they did not expect such a scenario.

"I believe in rationality and good faith of the people taking part because in this way they can do a lot for their fellow citizens at this moment, to help reopen the country as soon as possible."

The taking of swabs and blood samples could start on Monday, but Petrovec was reluctant to predict when it could complete because this will depend on people's cooperation.

He would like for the testing to be performed within a week, and they are planning to have the results ready before the May Day holidays.

The testing will be conducted by ten teams, each comprising a health professional trained to take swabs, and a member of the Institute for Microbiology and Immunology who will be responsible for personal data protection.

Petrovec says that the cost of the survey is hard to estimate at this stage, but promises the costs will be transparent and released publicly. Reagents alone will cost about EUR 150,000.

The state has already secured the funds for reagents and Petrovec expects it will also cover other costs associated with the survey, since the survey will serve the state.

Petrovec believes that data on the scope of the virus's spread will be needed by all countries that want to ease lockdown restrictions.

"We can open the country without them as well but this would be risky and cold lead to a new shutdown. Such a risk cannot be fully ruled out but if decisions are based on objective data, we can take measured steps," which Petrovec believes is absolutely worth the cost and effort.

While random tests are being planned by other countries and have already been conducted in Austria, Petrovec said Slovenia's would be the first such comprehensive test in Europe.

Austria's study was looking at the proportion of the infected population, while Slovenia's will also show how many people have recovered from the infection based on antibodies in their blood.

Explaining, Petrovec noted that the population includes those who have got over Covid-19 but have not been diagnosed with the disease.

There have been hundreds or even up to a thousand people a day who have been sent from entry points to self-isolation for whom it cannot be said whether they recovered from Covid-19.

They would also like to get answers to speculation about the large number of infected people without symptoms.

Those involved in the survey will also be invited to stay in the study so that their blood samples can be tested again after six months.

As of Saturday, Slovenia recorded 1,330 confirmed coronavirus cases and 74 Covid-19 deaths.

All our stories on coronavirus are here, while those covering covid-19 and Croatia are here. We'll have an update at the end of the day, and if you want newsflashes then we'll post those on Facebook

We can’t have pictures of COVID-19 every day. So instead we’ll try and show the works of Slovenian artists. Today it’s Igor Andjelić. You can see more of his work here.

Contents

13 tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday, four died

Coronavirus epidemic in Slovenia seen as under control

Slovenians allowed to visit their holiday homes

MOT tests and some forms of public transport to resume Monday

Minister advises caution as restrictions are gradually eased

Velenje quarantine shutting down

13 tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday, four died

STA, 18 April 2020 - Four people died of Covid-19 in Slovenia on Friday, bringing the total tally of deaths 70. 1,250 tests were performed and 13 people tested positive, for a total of 1,317.

93 Covid-patients were in hospital on Friday, 27 in intensive care, while eight were released into home crae, the government tweeted.

A total of 40,580 tests have so far been performed in Slovenia and a total of 190 coronavirus patients have been discharged from hospitals.

According to the website sledilnik.org, the 13 new Covid-19 patients included four health care workers, four retirement home employees and four retirement home residents.

Three residents tested positive in Ljutomer, one of the worst-hit homes, yesterday, alongside one employee.

Among the 1,317 who have tested positive so far, 155 are health care workers, 121 retirement home employees and 280 residents.

The biggest number of positive cases has been detected in central Slovenia (390), followed by the Savinjska region (283) and Pomurje (146). On Friday, 39 people were hospitalised at the Ljubljana UKC hospital and 29 at the Maribor UKC hospital, 20 in Celje and six at the Golnik hospital.

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Coronavirus epidemic in Slovenia seen as under control

STA, 17 April 2020 - The coronavirus epidemic in Slovenia is believed to be under control allowing public life to gradually re-start, but the danger is not over yet and significant caution will be needed going forward, the government's chief medical adviser for the coronavirus epidemic, Bojana Beović, told the press on Friday.

After the introduction of strict measures, such as the closure of schools and kindergartens and restrictions on the movement of people, the spread has slowed.

"The curve has now turned downwards and we can therefore start talking about a gradual relaxation of measures and steady normalisation of life," she said.

Beović presented estimates by several groups of researchers showing that the reproduction rate, which shows how many people one patient infects on average, had dropped to below one, which epidemics experts see as a point at which an epidemic starts to subside.

While some estimates she showed put it at over one, others have placed it significantly lower, to between 0.7 and 0.8.

But Beović was also quick to point out that this was not an epidemic that will end like SARS did. She said Slovenia was now in a transitional phase from an epidemic wave to a phase in which the epidemic will simmer and new outbreaks will be possible.

This means epidemiologists working in the field will have their work cut out trying to contain such outbreaks.

It also means people will have to continue abiding by measures such as wearing face masks in closed public spaces, using hand sanitizer and prevent physical contact.

"If we adhere to these measures, we'll be able to gradually open the country," the doctor said.

Slovenia entered lockdown on 20 March and measures were stepped up on 30 March, when most movement outside the home municipality was banned. Most retail outlets were closed on 16 March.

The first significant relaxation of measures starts on Saturday, when people will be allowed to go to their properties in a different municipality.

On Monday some services activities will be allowed to open, with a new wave of relaxation scheduled for 4 May, when small shops up to 400 square metres will be allowed to open, as well as hairdressers, beauty parlours and several other service establishments.

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Slovenians allowed to visit their holiday homes

STA, 18 April 2020 - After Slovenia managed to flatten the curve of coronavirus infections, the strict lockdown restrictions in place since mid-March are being eased somewhat this weekend. Limited movement of residents outside their municipality will be allowed, but restrictions to people's movement and gathering remain in place.

Apart from being allowed to go to work, shopping, access emergency services, do farm work and care for family members, Slovenians will from now on also be able to access private land outside their municipality of residence for purposes such as maintenance and seasonal works.

To do that, they will have to possess a printed statement published on the websites of the Interior Ministry and Information Centre, containing basic information on the person travelling, the purpose of the trip and its expected duration.

To avoid fines, individuals will also have to show documents proving they own the property or have the right to use it if pulled over by police.

Those travelling to another municipality will, however, not be allowed to use any local infrastructure or services there.

Tens of thousands of Slovenians have property in the countryside and the relaxation in effect means they will be allowed to spend time on properties that many use as holiday homes and where many grow vegetables.

The decision, which the government adopted late on Wednesday, marks the first significant easing of lockdown restrictions that were introduced on 20 March to contain the spread of coronavirus.

More will follow on Monday, when DIY shops, shops selling cars and bicycles, dry cleaners and some repair shops such as tyre replacement shops will reopen after being forced to shut down on 16 March.

Some forms of public transportation will also be allowed to help get people to work, and annual vehicle roadworthiness tests will resume.

Bearing in mind the usual precautions about safe distance between individuals, outdoor courts and fields will reopen for sports such as jogging, cycling, golf, yoga, tennis, badminton and boules.

Hair salons and beauty parlours are expected to reopen on 4 May.

The government started indicating last week that some easing was being considered since the growth in new infections had started to slow down, but it wanted to make sure the flattening of the curve of infections was sustainable.

The number of new infections in Slovenia has been steadily declining, but more importantly, the number of patients requiring hospitalisation and intensive care has been broadly flat and has so far not come close to the capacity of the health system.

The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Slovenia rose by 36 to 1,304 on Thursday, while the number of deaths increased by five to 66. The vast majority of the victims have been nursing home residents with multiple underlying conditions.

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MOT tests and some forms of public transport to resume Monday

STA, 17 April 2020 - The government has decided to further ease lockdown restrictions from Monday by allowing annual vehicle roadworthiness tests and some forms of public transport to resume.

Under the decision taken on Friday, annual vehicle roadworthiness tests and other procedures associated with registration of motor vehicles will resume, on condition that the providers follow the instructions of the National Institute of Public Health on prevention of coronavirus infections.

The validity of vehicle registration certificates, including vehicle insurance and ADR certificates for transport of hazardous goods, is being extended to 19 June at any rate.

Also allowed under special terms from Monday will be special transfers of passengers organised by business subjects to transport employees to work and back.

Such transits are based on a contract between the provider and transport organiser, who may be a local community or a legal entity or individual involved in for profit activity.

The provider needs to notify the ministry in charge of transport within eight days of closing the contract, submitting information on the itinerary and schedule of transfers.

The provider will need to have the contract and the list of passenger available for inspection in the vehicle during transfer.

The number of passengers is limited to up to a third of the seating capacity. The seats where the passengers can sit need to be marked. Passengers will need to wait to enter the vehicle while keeping a safety distance of two metres.

The passengers will be required to wear face masks within the vehicle and to sanitise their hands on entering and exiting the vehicle with a sanitiser made available be the provider.

The driver's space and door need to be separated from the passenger section of the vehicle. The driver will also need to wear a mask and have a sanitiser available.

After each ride, the vehicle will need to be thoroughly aired out and all the surfaces that are usually touched by the passengers wiped. The vehicle will need to be disinfected once daily.

Meanwhile, driving schools remain closed until 17 May.

Minister advises caution as restrictions are gradually eased

STA, 18 April 2020- Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec advised Slovenians against rushing to complete roadworthiness tests when vehicle inspection centres open after a month on Monday. "We need to be cautious and not go too fast so as not to undermine everything we've achieved so far," said Vrtovec.

He noted that owners have until 16 June to extend their registration papers. Registrations ran out for about 400,000 vehicles during the last month, he said.

Talking at the daily government statement, Vrtovec said that the vehicle inspection centres will only be able to perform their job if all precautionary measures will be taken.

Clients will have to remain outside the building where the tests are performed, while the person conducting the test will have to sanitise all parts of the car they touch and use a protective cover on the driver's seat.

Vrtovec also expressed satisfaction that companies will be allowed to organise bus commutes for their employees as of Monday. "I'm happy that we've reached this change, giving a hand to the economy, which has found itself in an unenviable position and faces a long recovery after the epidemic."

Here, too, protective measures will have to be taken, including sufficient distance among passengers. Among other things, operators will have to mark the seats where passengers will be allowed to sit. Passengers will have to sanitise their hands upon entry and wear masks, while the drivers will be separated from the passengers.

Meanwhile, Education Minister Simona Kustec said that the ministry would decide next week, whether 4th year secondary schools students would return to schools on 4 May to prepare for the upcoming matura school-leaving exams.

She also said that the ministry was aware of the possibility that education processes will have to be adapted to the epidemic also in the next school year.

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Velenje quarantine shutting down

STA, 18 April 2020 - The Paka Hotel in Velenje will no longer serve as quarantine for Slovenians who returned home from Covid-19 hotspots around the globe. On Saturday, the last person who was quarantined there left for home.

The premises will now be disinfected by the Civil Protection services and returned to its owner, the Chinese group Hisense, on Monday, the head of the Western Štajerska Civil Protection Petra Bezjak Cirman told the STA.

Meanwhile, the Epic Hotel in Postojna continues to serve as a quarantine facility, currently housing 17 potential Covid-19 patients.

Notranjska Civil Protection head Sandi Curk told the STA that they managed to get to hotels so as to allow Slovenians driving to Postojna for work to stay there over night.

Curk expects more problems to arise as companies that have been shut down relaunch their production lines, while kindergartens and schools remain close. Currently, volunteers are providing care for 30 children in the region.

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Lockdown leads Sam Baldwin – founder of BREG Apparel – to a pastoral world, where he finally gets his ‘priden’ badge from The Matriarch of Breg.

Other posts in this series can be read here

It started with a virus. Then followed the excitement of the lockdown-high. I had zoom calls with long-lost friends and was added to a zillion new WhatsApp groups. Then came the come down. Winter returned, life was cold and isolation felt strange.

Now, a month after running to the hills of Koroška, and I have found a certain peace. We humans have the ability to adjust to our situation, no matter how strange, and I seem to have reached a gentle contentedness to living more simply, more frugally and more physically than before.

This has been achieved by turning to a more pastoral way of life. In addition to working on various home improvement projects, (I spent two weeks with a chainsaw and chisels, making traditional wooden rain gutters for my house from tree trunks) I have been helping my neighbours – forty-something Štefka and her 74-year old mother Ančka, Breg’s Matriarch – work their land. They have a mountainside farmstead (think Heidi landscape); a couple of cows, two pigs, a few chickens, some alpine pasture and a scattering of plum and pear trees. And with each new season, there are new tasks to be done.

Assisting them was the least I could do considering their extreme generosity. They have been bringing me a hot, homecooked meals, to the point where I had an excess of food and had to protest. And that is just their most recent act of kindness. Ever since I bought Breg house in 2007, Štefka, Ančka and Jaka (God rest his schnapps-drinking soul) have been nothing but the best of neighbours to me.

I spent two afternoons raking dried leaves and dead grass from the meadows with Štefka. It had the instant gratification of cleaning a dirty window with a squeegee. It was a simple, even mundane task, yet I enjoyed it immensely. With this simple act of raking, we were helping to maintain the meadow and hold nature in stasis by preventing the forest from reclaiming the ground. No tractors, no machines. Just hand rakes, exactly as it has been done here for the last 300 years.

I have come to enjoy all this physical work. There’s wood to split, logs to bring in, the fire to light. There’s a fence to repair, a pipe to be fixed, a stone wall to build. I have found pleasure and fulfilment to the slowness of lockdown life. I am never bored. I become completely absorbed in my tasks. I forget all other worries and lose awareness of time passing. I feel fitter, more focused and more content.

I recently watched a documentary about the Amish. They believe that daily physical labour is a joy in itself. This is why they shun modern-day labour-saving devices as these would, in their eyes, reduce the amount of hard work required, and thus reduce the quality of life. I’m not about to swap my car for a horse and buggy, and grow a weird beard, but my pastoral BREGxit lockdown has made me realise that perhaps the Amish are on to something.

It is also through interaction with my neighbours that I have been able to practise speaking Slovene on a daily basis. Which is ironic. Because in my normal Ljubljana life, when I see far more Slovenian people, I speak far less Slovene. Though my level remains crude, we have been able to converse to an interesting-enough level. And I have discovered more about their lives as we have toiled together.

“My brother would have been 50 today” Štefka told me, as we pulled our wide rakes towards us, gathering hay and leaves at our feet.

Though I knew she had a long-deceased brother, I knew nothing of the circumstances of his death. I decided it would be an appropriate time to enquire.

“He hung himself. His girlfriend left him for someone else.”

A little later, Ančka arrived with a can of cold beer and two glasses.

“She’s come to check on our work!” Štefka joked.

We took a seat on a wooden bench, sipped the beer and looked out over the mountains and Meža valley below, now in the golden sun of spring. I asked them if they knew everyone who lived in the farms we could see, perched on the sides of the surrounding hills. Štefka proceed to point out each farm, recount the family name and the number of inhabitants of each.

“Do they ever come here?” I asked.

“Yes, once or twice each year.”

“Do you ever go there?”

“No!” – Ančka said, shaking her head, as if the idea of her leaving Breg was absurd.

Indeed, Ančka does not leave Breg. Incredibly for a Slovene, she has never seen the sea. She has no desire to visit lands beyond her borders. She believes she has everything she could want right here on the planina of Breg.

If you want to see Ančka, you must come to her. And come they do; she has no shortage of visitors. Despite living 850m up a mountain, the gravity of this Matriarch is strong. There is always someone popping in for a kava or schnapps – be it the snow-plough driver, a relative or one of their many friends. No matter how busy, there always seems to be time for a little malica.

The difference between their worldview and mine, perhaps makes our friendship an unlikely one. I have jumped at chances to leave my own country and go far beyond its borders. I have lived in Asia and North America, and visited exotic lands: Beirut, Beijing, Burma and Kashmir. Back home in the UK, I had never spent so much time with such deeply rural people. But I seem to have an affinity for rural folk in secret corners of the world. Indeed, amongst others, it was the lives of the farmers, fisherman and other local characters of rural Japan that fascinated me most, during my two years living there. There’s something appealing to me about those who still live the ‘old way’.

It’s thanks to Štefka and Ančka that I have met many other Slovenes in the area. But I have returned the favour too.  Whenever friends come to visit me in Slovenia, I always take them to Štefka’s and Ančka’s. So ironically, Ančka, who rarely leaves the borders of Breg, let alone her country, has shared her kava and klobasa with people from America, Scotland, France, Iran, England, Austria, Ireland and New Zealand – and she seems to enjoy such visits.

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Štefka and Ančka run a tight ship up here in Breg and keep a critical eye on my projects. After I have finished any given construction or garden task, Ančka soon arrives to inspect my work. My wooden gutters met with her approval, but at the same time she remarked on my untidy garden. She approved of my new vegetable plot, though instructed me to make a fence to keep out the deer.

Often when I am working away outside, Ančka will suddenly appear. Normally, I would rely on Štefka to translate her mother’s heavy Koroškan dialect into more understandable Slovene for me. However, a few days ago, Štefka was absent, so for the first time ever, I had a long, one on one conversation with Ančka, and to my surprise (and joy) I found we could communicate. We talked about the number of eggs the chickens are currently laying (seven or eight a day) when the cows will go out to pasture (late May), if they’ll be any plums this year (last year there wasn’t) and when it’s time to start planting the vegetable garden (first of May). I also learned that despite their ample supply of eggs, Ančka doesn’t eat them, and for all the plums they pick, she never drinks schnapps. Instead, such commodities are used as currency; gifted to friends who visit and help out on the land.

As lockdown goes on, I have started to go the way of Ančka, becoming almost allergic to leaving Breg. When I had to make a trip down to civilization this week for supplies, I didn’t enjoy the strange, new COVID-mask world, and I was glad to get back to the sanctuary of Breg.

And so, I have been settling into the rural Slovene life, working with my hands and working outside. Global lockdown makes it easier to appreciate this simple life. Because for now, FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) has been cancelled. One thing we can all be sure of right now, is that there IS nothing to miss out on. And this allows us to gain contentment from life’s more simple pleasures.

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This morning it was ‘casually suggested’ by Štefka (likely she was delivering orders from up on high) that it was time I got my flower beds in order (which I confess, have been neglected for more than a decade). So, I spent an hour weeding them, and as I raked in the last of the cow-manure compost, Ančka appeared. She siliently watched my progress, whilst leaning on her stick.

I awaited her ruling nervously. Had I done enough to please The Mighty Matriarch of Breg? Finally, she put me out of my misery:

“OK, now your house is beautiful.”

It’s taken me over ten years, but I think I just got my priden* badge.

*Priden is a Slovene word meaning ‘diligent/hard-working and seems to be a Slovenian trait to aspire to.

Sam Baldwin is the founder of BREG Apparel – Slovenia inspired t-shirts, writer of Slovenia: Life in the SLO Lane blog, and author of For Fukui’s Sake; Two years in Rural Japan.

Other posts in this series can be read here

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 17 March 2020. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here

Mladina: How the SDS is like the Communist Party

STA, 17 April 2020 – The left-wing weekly Mladina takes a look at what it sees as Janez Janša's Democrats' (SDS) obsession with Communism, pinpointing several SDS features which in fact make it resemble a true Communist Party.

It is really oppressive and depressing to listen to the lies about Communism which the SDS is constantly serving to the public.

It's 2020 and they are still going on about Communist media and Communist leaders, the weekly magazine says on Friday.

This could partly be understood if almost all former Slovenian Communist Party officials who are still active in politics were not in the SDS.

Editor-in-chief Grega Repovž says there are currently three former Communist Party officials in the upper echelons of Slovenian politics.

They are Modern Centre Party (SMC) leader Zdravko Počivalšek, who was not a very ambitious Party member, President Borut Pahor, who was ambitious, and Janša, an ambitious and inquisitive young Communist whose character was not entirely to the Party's liking so it expelled him.

The SDS obviously believes that obsessing with Communism will make it win some legitimacy abroad, whereas it only disgraces itself.

All serious people know that only populists, converts and those having a hard time reconciling with reality are promoting "this East European litany".

"Nevertheless, we are grateful to PM Janša, postmen Uroš Urbanija [acting Government Communication Office boss], and FM Anže Logar for the cable sent to the Council of Europe [about Slovenian media with a Communist bias], because we do not have to explain abroad any more what kind of government is in power in Slovenia."

Mladina says the SDS has several features in common with the Party, listing among other things the hounding of those who disagree with it and the personality cult.

It argues the SDS is a movie-like version of the Communist Party the SDS portrays in its cables and descriptions of the situation in Slovenia.

Whenever the SDS has come to power it seems that when Slovenia left Communism behind to embrace democracy, the SDS did not actually want democracy but merely to take power away from the Communist Party.

The SDS is right in that whenever it comes to power, Slovenia returns 30 years back, Mladina concludes the editorial And When Will We Have "Youth Day"?

Demokracija: The pitfalls of green policies exposed by Covid-19

STA, 16 April 2020 – The right-wing Demokracija magazine makes a case against green policies promoting renewables, saying on Thursday the coronavirus crisis has shown how attempts to make urban areas green, including by promoting public transport as opposed to cars, are misguided.

Wanting to turn urban centres into countryside-like places is a time bomb in that bringing wildlife to cities increases the chances of viruses being transmitted to humans.

Although the novel coronavirus is not necessarily such a case, such behaviour represents a highly risky interaction between nature and urban areas, to which the majority of national and global officials who want to build a green agenda with billions in taxpayer money turn a blind eye.

"The zeal to make urban areas green has reached psychopathic proportions in the fight against global warming," says editor-in-chief Jože Biščak.

He says that the expulsion of personal vehicles from city centres forced many people to use public transport amid the coronavirus outbreak, which has resulted in hundreds of deaths recorded in Madrid, Milan, Paris or New York, yet media agitators and progressive politicians continue to wave the green flag.

"Those who use public transportation know the effect of being packed like sardines; immense crowds using public transport services have proved to be a deadly variant of exaggerated green thinking," the weekly says under the headline The Effect of Packed Sardines.

Nevertheless, the European Commission launched a public debate on the strategy of sustainable finance as part of its multi-billion euro Green Deal.

But Biščak says the smart EU countries have not responded to it, because they know the recession to stem from the pandemic is a much bigger threat to people's prosperity.

Demokracija says the EU's energy policy based on renewables will have to change because no EU country will probably be able to afford the green luxury after the economy contracts, especially because the western civilisation's prosperity is built on cheap fossil fuel, which is right now emerging as a straw that could help restart the economy and save jobs.

All our posts in this series are here

All our stories on coronavirus are here, while those covering covid-19 and Croatia are here. We'll have an update at the end of the day, and if you want newsflashes then we'll post those on Facebook

We can’t have pictures of COVID-19 every day. So instead we’ll try and show the works of Slovenian and Slovenia-based artists. Today it’s |Andy Green. You can see more of his work here.

Contents

Confirmed infections up by 36 to 1,304, death toll by 5 to 66

Coronavirus situation in Šmarje pri Jelšah stabilising

Govt ordered to check justification of restrictions on movement every week

After lockdown, Slovenians to visit relatives, get their hair done

Confirmed infections up by 36 to 1,304, death toll by 5 to 66

STA, 17 April 2020 - Slovenia recorded five new Covid-19 deaths on Thursday for a total death toll of 66, while the number of confirmed infections after 1,193 more people were tested was up by 36 to 1,304. The number of new cases is in line with the trend of a flat curve with occasional dips.

The number of hospitalised patients was down by four to 95 on Thursday, while the number of intensive care cases decreased by three to 28. Nine Covid-19 patients were discharged from hospital.

"The data on the epidemic in Slovenia are encouraging. We'll be able to preserve the positive trend if we continue observing the measures and keep the focus that we've all demonstrated in the past weeks," the government's coronavirus spokesperson Jelko Kacin told the press on Friday.

A total of 39,330 people have been tested in Slovenia so far. 182 Covid-19 patients have been discharged from hospital.

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Coronavirus situation in Šmarje pri Jelšah stabilising

STA, 17 April 2020 - Good news is coming from one of the coronavirus hotspots in the country, Šmarje pri Jelšah in the north-east, where the local care home saw the biggest outbreak of Covid-19. Just over a month since the first infection was recorded in the municipality, the situation seems to be finally stabilising, according to Mayor Matija Čakš.

Šmarje pri Jelšah was the first town in Slovenia to close its primary school on 12 March after two employees tested positive for coronavirus. After that, the number of infections in the municipality rose quickly, and the virus spread the most in the town's care home, which reported of the first infection on 18 March.

Until this Wednesday, 155 people from the municipality got infected, data from the National Institute for Public Health show. Most of them are residents of the care home, but the exact figure is not known.

The number of infections rose by six in a week, having stood at 149 on 8 April.

According to the mayor, all of those who died from Covid-19 in the municipality - their number stood at 25 on Wednesday - were residents of the care home.

Outside the home, the number of infections does not particularly stand out, Čakš said. The number of coronavirus cases is slightly higher in Šmarje compared to other municipalities because of the number of cases tested, he added.

He said there had been no major problems because of Covid-19 outside the care home, as citizens accepted restrictions, and now the situation seems to be stabilising. "The situation is also stabilising at the care home," he asserted.

The mayor said there were many theories about the outbreak of coronavirus in the municipality but the fact was that the Šmarje primary school is the fourth largest in the country, and that many families had been holidaying abroad.

The employees of the care home who first tested positive for the virus are not local residents, so the infection has come from elsewhere, the mayor added, noting that there was no sense in investigating this now.

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Govt ordered to check justification of restrictions on movement every week

STA, 17 April 2020 - The Constitutional Court has ordered the government to immediately verify the justification for restrictions on the movement of persons put in place to contain the spread of coronavirus, whereupon it must examine every week whether the government decree imposing these restrictions is still justifiable.

The decision, released on Friday, refers to the most far-reaching government decree to combat the crisis, which was adopted on 29 March and amended on 14 April and effectively put the entire country into lockdown, allowing only limited exemptions to the prohibition of movement, including going to work, the grocery store or the nearest park.

The court has now suspended Article 7 of the decree, which determines that the measures will be in place "until the cessation of the reasons", a provision which gives the government the discretion to decide when to end the measures. The suspension will remain in place until the judges reach a substantive decision.

In the meantime, the government must verify the justification for the extension of the measures every week based on expert opinion to verify "whether the measures are necessary for the achievement of the objectives". The first such assessment must be made as soon as the decision is formally served to the government.

The court says it realises that the decree will cease to apply at some point anyway, but it says that it admitted the application nevertheless since it raises "important issues concerning constitutional law".

Interestingly, it has not been revealed who petitioned the court, as the petitioner requested the Constitutional Court that the petition be anonymised. The court said that conditions for this had been met and the petition was thus anonymised.

The government previously said that the petition had no grounds and asked the court to reject it to avoid irreparable consequences for public health. Interior Ministry said in a statement today that it supported the court's decision, adding that this is already being done daily.

"We did the right thing! The suspended segment is not problematic," tweeted Interior Minister Aleš Hojs. "The government will simply have to determine regularly whether the decree is still needed, extending or abolishing it, as dictated by the Constitution."

The opposition welcomed the decision of the Constitutional Court, with the Social Democrats (SD) saying that Hojs's statement was misleading, as it was clear that the Constitutional Court had not yet discussed the contents of the decree.

The Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) questioned the sensibility of the movement restrictions, saying that the "lively Saturday", when people allegedly flocked from the cities to tourist destinations and was the reason for the restriction, had not been so lively after all, judging by the number of new infections.

The party was also critical of President Borut Pahor and interior and defence ministers Hojs and Matej Tonin, for ignoring social distancing rules while visiting the southern border earlier this week.

"Their excuse is that it was a slip. But when ordinary people slipped this way... they did not get a chance to apologise and do better next time. They were punished immediately: with the movement restriction, some also with fines," LMŠ said.

The Left also welcomed the Constitutional Court's decision, adding that it will petition the court on Monday to examine coronavirus stimulus package provisions giving more powers to the police.

The Left also intends to ask the court to review the government decree adopted in Wednesday, which the Left says restricts movement between municipalities on the basis of the mentioned act.

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After lockdown, Slovenians to visit relatives, get their hair done

STA, 17 April 2020 - One out of three Slovenians believes life will get back to normal after 1 June, a poll conducted by Aragon suggests, with most respondents planning to visit their close relatives and friends.

The latest of Aragon's weekly polls, conducted between 9 and 13 April among 1,027 respondents, shows a third of those questioned expecting life after the lockdown to get back to normal after 1 June.

Meanwhile, 16% believe life will return to normal after 1 July, whereas 12% do not expect the situation to return to the way it had been before the epidemic until 2021 or even later.

Asked about their short-term plans once stay-at-home measures are lifted, half of respondents plan to visit their close relatives first, and one out of three will visit their close friends.

One out of four will call on their hairdresser as soon as the quarantine is over, or take a day trip and socialise at picnics or parties.

There is more gloom when it comes to the prospect of holidays with 60% saying they did not think they would be able to take their summer holidays as they used to.

The poll also ascertained a decline in public apprehension about coronavirus with those concerned about Covid-19 falling to 37% from 51% in the last week of March.

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STA, 17 April 2020 - The insurance group Sava has adjusted its expected net profit for this year as a result of the crisis, saying on Friday it is likely to be about 15% to 20% lower than the initially planned EUR 45 million.

Sava originally projected this year's profit to miss last year's record mark of EUR 50.2 million by 10%. While it generated EUR 584.9 million in operating revenue last year, the plan for this year had been set at EUR 610 million.

The changed circumstances, which include an expected 6-8% drop in GDP, lockdown measures that could remain in place until the end of May and a major decrease in car insurance revenue, are likely to impact profit by 15-20% and revenue by 5-7%, the company said.

The assessed impact on the solvency ratio, initially expected to stand at 203% at the end of the year, is 10 to 15 percentage points.