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’sPatricija Selič, with one of series of posters organised by Tam Tam, with the rest here.

Contents

Some industries could be restarted after Easter holidays

Retail chamber hopes shops could reopen after Easter

Farm organisations urge measures to mitigate damage to sector

Vast majority of drivers stick to inter-municipal travel ban

Some industries could be restarted after Easter holidays

STA, 6 April 2020 - The government is preparing measures to enable some industries in Slovenia to relaunch their operations immediately after the Easter holidays if the current trend in the number of persons diagnosed with Covid-19 continues, government spokesman Jelko Kacin announced on Monday.

"The government could examine as early as this week measures which would enable the re-start of certain branches of industry already after the Easter holidays, if this positive trend continues," Kacin said.

He explained that the positive trend meant that there was no excessive, or no increase at all over the holidays in the number of patients who needed hospital care, intensive care in particular.

Asked by the press what measures these could be, Kacin said that coordination meetings were still being held and that the government would need to hold a session on this topic. Once a final decision is made, it will be presented to the public.

He praised citizens for sticking to the restrictive measures, which he said was confirmed by the number of new infections, as it was not increasing as steeply as last week.

"We are not recording a downward trend yet, we are still not in a phase where there are no new infections. So let all of us be patient and hold on for a few more weeks so that we beat the epidemic together," Kacin added.

The government meanwhile continues to discuss additional measures to mitigate the impact of the epidemic on the economy and individuals, with Prime Minister Janez Janša holding a meeting with trade union representatives in Brdo pri Kranju today.

A task force headed by Labour Minister Janez Cigler Kralj has also met, and the government is also in talks with trade unions about measures in education and welfare, Kacin said, adding that details would be presented tomorrow.

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Retail chamber hopes shops could reopen after Easter

STA, 6 April 2020 - The Slovenian Chamber of Commerce (TZS) hopes the first stores which have been subject to closure since 16 March due to the coronavirus epidemic will reopen after Easter in less than a week. The chamber thus plans to make an assessment of the situation this week and draft a proposal for their reopening.

TZS president Mariča Lah told the STA on Monday that the assessment will take into account the number of Covid-19 patients in the country. "If the situation in the country improves, stores may begin to open. But if it worsens, they will likely have to remain closed."

Allowed to operate under the government decree are grocery stores, stores carrying farming products, pharmacies, petrol stations, as well as banks, postal offices, delivery services, news agents and online stores.

Since 3 April, florist's shops and plant nurseries have also been open, while the government has also allowed construction work to take place on construction sites where builders do not have direct contact with clients.

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Farm organisations urge measures to mitigate damage to sector

STA, 6 April 2020 - Slovenian agriculture organisations have raised concern about "huge" damage to business due to the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, urging a series of measures on Monday, including curbs on meat imports and increased purchase of produce for national commodity reserves.

Farm organisations from the north-east of the country, the centre of Slovenia's farming sector, report serious disruption in sales of meat, dairy and wine and the damage suffered by complementary activities such as farmsteads.

Citing unofficial information about a surge in meat imports recently, the organisations say that many farms are unable to sell livestock and pigs due to a lack of interest by the purchasers at home and closure of foreign markets.

With foreign markets closing up fast, the organisations also expect excess supply of milk as early as this month, calling for an increase in purchasing by the National Agency for Commodity Reserves.

Sales in the wine sector have all but ground to a halt. On top of that, abundant crop in 2018 and 2019 could leave the Podravje winemakers with enormous surpluses of wine in the autumn, which in turn would send prices tumbling and spell out a wine sector crisis that could last for years.

In a proposal set out on Monday, the organisations are calling for minimum buy-in prices to be set in all the affected sectors, stepping up border controls of meat imports and weekly reporting on the imports. They want a halt on imports of meat and timber.

The organisations are also urging the government to ensure livestock and milk are bought up to increase national commodity reserves, also so that milk could be distributed to groups at risk.

They believe all business subjects in the food chain that are granted state aid due to the pandemic should be made to commit to buying mainly produce, livestock and foodstuffs of Slovenian origin during and after the crisis.

Among other things, they also demand allowances for the loss of income during the epidemic, for farmers to pay VAT only after their invoices are paid, and extending aid for the self-employed to farmers. They moreover disagree with restriction of movement to municipality of residence because it interferes with direct selling.

Similar calls have been addressed to the government by the trade union of Slovenian farmers, among others. The government has been given the discretion to intervene in the agricultural markets in one in the series of laws already passed to mitigate the coronavirus crisis.

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Vast majority of drivers stick to inter-municipal travel ban

STA, 6 April 2020 - The statistics provided by the police shows that a vast majority of drivers respect the ban on non-urgent travel between municipalities, as only 103 drivers out of 3,348 ones checked at the weekend violated it. Mayors of coastal municipalities also report that most of the people stuck to the rule over the weekend.

The police carried out 3,348 checks over the weekend in a campaign involving 139 officers and issued 69 warnings and reporting 34 to the relevant inspectorate, shows a report on the website of the police released on Monday.

The report says that people mostly respect the limitations, while the police frequently take into account the personal circumstances of potential violators. Those who violate the rules out of negligence are sent back home.

The most frequent excuses are visits and care of grandparents, visits to relatives or friends, plumbing work for a friend, gardening work in another municipality or visit to grandchildren.

The report notes that some of the violators said they were looking for protective equipment and that police officers have found that "some drivers are very skilful in justifying their travel during the lockdown".

In the period between 30 March when the measure entered into force and last Sunday, the police have issued 1,366 warnings, and reported 1,574 persons to the Health Inspectorate. There is no statistics on the total number of checks performed.

The mayors of the coastal municipalities, where heavy traffic and gathering of larger groups of people were still recorded at the 28-29 March weekend, report that people mostly stuck to the rules over the last weekend.

Izola Mayor Danilo Markočič told the STA today that "people have respected the instructions and if at all, they went on walks in small groups, mostly families or couples".

Piran Mayor Đenio Zadković, who was among the first to point to visits from other parts of Slovenia to the coast, praised the measure that came after their "emergency call" and also thanked the locals for taking the instruction seriously.

Security services, police and health inspectors did not record any major violations in Koper, either. "People understand and respect the restrictions, which are needed if we want to contain the epidemic," the municipality said.

Italians also rarely cross into Slovenia. The Koper Police Department has told the STA that only a few Italian citizens were recorded daily at the open border crossings, and some of them get rejected.

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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

Who are you, and how did you come to be here?

 My name is Melinda Hajdin.  I am an artist from San Jose, California. I now live in Hrastik in Zasavje.  I came to Slovenia to do plein-air painting.  I have a BFA in Spatial Arts from San Jose State University,  and I am considering doing my master's degree in art here in Slovenia as well, at either ALUO or AVA.  My website is www.melindahajdin.com and I also have a Facebook artist page, melindahajdinart.  My degree is in sculpture but I am currently focused on the pictorial side of the arts, on drawing and painting.  I love the Slovenian countryside and small towns.  The peace and beauty here inspires me.

Tell us a little about your situation and sanity.

I am naturally something of a hermit, so you'd think the lockdown wouldn't get me down too much, but it's been more stressful than I bargained for.  I live alone in a country where everyone is very social and likes to do everything in groups.  I am used to feeling different from everyone else, so it's pretty weird to find the whole world unwillingly living the same kind of life as I do every day.  My sanity levels are okay, though like everyone else I am nervous about getting the virus and I don't want to die.  I would love to be able to say that I'm churning out masterpieces every day here in lockdown, but I am often finding myself creatively blocked and lacking in energy.  Nevertheless, as much as I can, I am practicing my skills and learning new techniques.  I'm not able to paint plein-air right now, but I am compensating for this by developing other projects.  Luckily, there are a couple of art supply stores in Slovenia who deliver by post, so at least I can get materials.

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

I live in my own little world, so I realized it a bit late, only after a lot of people in Italy started to die and the Slovenian government started shutting things down, stopping public transport and other restrictive measures.  I had not been much in the habit of keeping up with the news.  That's changed; I read the headlines every day now.  

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

I’m disabled and technically a vulnerable person, so I would be worried about getting sick wherever I lived, but I think Slovenia has done an excellent job in shutting everything down to slow down the spread of the virus.   The low death rate we have compared to other European countries is a testament to the success of those measures.  I would rather be in Slovenia than any other place on earth right now.

What about how your home country is handling it?

Santa Clara County, California, in which my hometown San Jose is located, is particularly hard hit by the virus.  The governor of California is doing his best, but there is a critical lack of good leadership at the federal level in the United States.  I am very worried about my friends and former classmates there.  I definitely think the U.S. situation will get a lot worse before it gets any better.  By contrast, Slovenia acted swiftly and comprehensively, and with compassion for the most vulnerable in society.  During the initial wave of panic buying, I was really afraid of running out of food, but luckily, I only had to endure that for a few days. I have benefited from the special shopping hours set aside for the elderly and disabled, and am grateful those measures are in place. 

One of Melinda Hajdin's sculptures

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

I only understand a little bit of Slovene - I had been about to enrol in a government-sponsored language course when the coronavirus hit - so I can’t really speak directly to that.  The English language versions are keeping me reasonably up to date, though one always wonders if there's anything left out, or lost in translation.   From the U.S., there's a never-ending barrage of official communications, but it only demonstrates how chaotic the situation is over there.

What’s the one thing you wish you had taken with you into self-isolation?

CHEDDAR CHEESE.  I will happily accept donations.

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

I moved into my building in Hrastnik only a few months ago, and I don't really know many people except to say “dober dan” in passing.  As an American one is raised to be an individualist, first and foremost.  Gradually I am getting used to living in more of a collectivist society, and learning to appreciate the closer social bonds that people have here.  I have learned that people here can really be very kind. 

I'd like to give a few shout-outs, if I may:  Thanks to the manager of my building, Mrs. Haberl, for giving us all free masks and for doing a good job in general managing our building.  I'd also like to thank the Upravna Enota in Hrastnik for giving me the opportunity to live and develop my art in Hrastnik.  I had planned to stage an exhibition of paintings at the Delavski Dom gallery in Hrastnik this fall, with the public warmly invited, but the gallery had to close due to the virus.  Hopefully the show will happen before next year.

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 and designers Today it’s Damjan Tomažin. This is part of series presented by Tam Tam, and you can see the rest here.

Contents

Coronavirus death toll in Slovenia rises to 30 as infections top 1,000

Health official says epidemic easing but much still depends on people's behavior

Hospitals in Slovenia got nearly 70 new ventilators last week

Coronavirus death toll in Slovenia rises to 30 as infections top 1,000

STA, 6 April 2020 - Two persons infected with Covid-19 died in Slovenia on Sunday, bringing the death toll to 30. The number of confirmed infections rose by 24 in a day to 1,021, show the latest statistics released by the government.

The number of Covid-19 patients in hospital rose by six to 114 but is still below the end of March peak of 120. Of those, 30 were in intensive care, one fewer than on Saturday.

A total of 102 persons have recovered enough to be discharged from hospital.

Health authorities have so far performed 28,253 tests, up 489 in a day. While the figure is below the daily average of 1,000-plus, fewer tests are typically performed during weekends.

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Health official says epidemic easing but much still depends on people's behavior

STA, 6 April 2020 - The head of the Koper unit of the the Public Health Institute (NIJZ) Milan Krek told the press on Monday that the current measures had helped turn the curve of new daily Covid-19 cases in Slovenia. He however urged caution, saying future behaviour will determine whether the epidemic calms or cases rise from 1,000 to 10,000.

 Krek assessed at the government's regular briefing that Slovenia would have been looking at 480,000 Covid-19 cases and 90,000 deaths had containment measures not been adopted. Had the epidemic evolved the way it did in Lombardy in neighbouring Italy, 800 people would have died in Slovenian so far as opposed to 30.

"The virus doesn't have legs of wings and cannot spread on its own. It is only people who can allow it to spread by behaving inappropriately and disregarding safe movement rules," he said, urging that these rules continue be observed, or else the curve "can quickly turn into a much worse direction".

Welcoming the lockdown measures currently in place, he noted a seven-day fluctuation pattern in the number of cases, which he said "was the result of imprudent behaviour and travelling during the past weekends".

Krek highlighted the cancellation, at the eleventh hour on 7 March, of a concert by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli scheduled at Ljubljana's Stožice Arena as a major moment.

"We were edging on a disaster which could have started after the concert. The Italian tragedy started at a football match where over 40,000 people came together," he said.

Pointing to a model by a London institute, Krek said a failure to use social distancing would have led to 7 billion infections around the world and 40 million deaths. If key measures are adopted and observed these numbers can be reduced to 2.5 billion and 10 million respectively.

Meanwhile, commenting on opinion discrepancies among experts, including in Slovenia, he said opinions among experts were never uniform. He believes a united position will be reached in the end "so that all is right".

"I do not see the tensions between experts, epidemiologists and within the NIJZ as a problem. It is good that a discussion is developing and that we can talk freely and look for common points," he said.

He also welcomed the much debated government orders for compulsory use of masks indoors and disinfecting of multi-home buildings.

"The stricter the measures, the better, since transmission is reduced. We believe that the current measures suffice, since we are seeing a decline in new daily cases," Krek said.

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Hospitals in Slovenia got nearly 70 new ventilators last week

STA, 6 April 2020 - Slovenia has been acquiring medical and protective equipment to better face the coronavirus epidemic for weeks, with gear coming in also from corporate donors. Last week, the Commodity Reserves Agency delivered 66 mechanical ventilators to hospitals, as well as 1.83 million tri-layer face masks and over 401,000 FFP2 masks.

Economic Development and Technology Minister Zdravko Počivalšek has tweeted that other institutions have also received masks. He is also very excited about the launch of mask production in Slovenia, saying that half a million masks would be produced this week alone.

Last week, the agency delivered 270,000 masks made in Slovenia, as well as more than 10,000 disinfectants and nearly 7,400 items of other equipment, Počivalšek also tweeted today.

Nearly two weeks ago, the government announced that it had ordered, among other things, more than 570 ventilators, which are to be delivered in 60 days.

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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

Who are you, and how did you come to be here?

I’m Andy B and I’m originally from New York City.  I’ve been living in Slovenia for the past 12 years with my Slovene wife (who I met in the US) and our two boys who are 8 and 12.  Our oldest was born in the US and the youngest was born in Ptuj (a place I still have a problem pronouncing).  I met my wife when she was living in Detroit, MI and attending school.  After finding out where Slovenia was and visiting this lovely country two times, we were married and soon decided to move to Slovenia since she has a larger family here than I do back in the US. Currently I am working as an English teacher with a large language school and teaching both adults and children… now in a virtual environment.

Tell us a little about your situation and sanity levels.

I am with my family, my wife, our 2 boys and our cat, in a relatively large apartment with a balcony in the lovely border town of Rogatec.  Although we are mostly at home, we are able to take walks and we have 2 supermarkets within walking distance.  During the week our boys get school work and are occupied with it for a good part of the day. My wife and I are both working from home, but we have enough computers for everyone. We’ve got conversation, books, board games, PlayStation, phones and other things to keep ourselves entertained.  Am I going to tell you our kids are angels who are playing well together and making creative project together without parental influence? Nope, I’m not. 

My and my wife’s sanity levels are very good. We are calm and managing to approach each day to get what needs to be done. We are not freaking out nor are with putting that kind of stress on our kids. We have the opportunity to go outside and there isn’t a lack of food in the supermarkets.  Quite honestly, I’m looking forward to sitting on the balcony with a nice cold beer as the weather gets warmer. I know my kids are bored and they miss playing football with their friends, but luckily their friends are just a phone call away and they can play video games with them online.

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

I realized it was going to be a big issue when the media started making it a big issue.  Soon after that, the governments around the world started closing schools, restaurants, restricting public gatherings and all the news was focused on death counts in various countries.  Now most of the conversation is about the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 because there is not much else to talk about when you see an acquaintance at the supermarket or on a walk.

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

I feel very safe. Living in the countryside, there is more space (even though one of the outbreak’s hotspots is two big towns away, in Šmarje Pri Jelšah) and in the town of Rogatec, where I live, the supermarkets were very quick to provide hand sanitizer and gloves to its customers.  I think Slovenia is dealing with the crisis relatively well, but I think that has more to do with the character of its citizens than the government.  People here seem to be very resourceful and they seem to be able to easily adapt to a situation like this.  I found it funny that in the US there was a lack of toilet paper and here is Slovenia, there was a lack of yeast.  It just goes to show that Slovenes were thinking of how provide food for their families during this crisis. I mean, without food, there really is no need for toilet paper…right?

How are things compared to your home country?

That is a really hard question to answer.  The US is a country of 330 million people vs Slovenia, a country of 2 million. Each state in the US has its own government and the concentration of people is much higher in the major cities.  Slovenia has a relatively homogenous population with the general attitude of helping each other out, or at least following instructions. I would imagine that it is much harder to make sure that the varied population in the US is following the guidelines to help stop the spread of the virus.

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

 I believe that because of its size, it is easier for the communication to be quickly passed on to the population. In the evening, my wife watches the news for the latest information and I can rely on publications like this one to provide me with the information that lets me know what is going on.  Again, it’s hard to compare the US and Slovenia. In the US there is 24 hour news channels that are recycling the same stories over and over and probably stressing out people that are constantly watching it.  The communication from the US government is constantly questioned and argued over which just adds another level of stress and confusion to the situation. 

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

I suppose since I’m in a village and not a city, I don’t feel like I’m in self-isolation.  So it’s not so dramatic for me and my family.  We can go and get food when we want, we can go for a walk/bike ride, we’ve got TV/internet/video games/books… I’ve got my guitars, etc. We’ve got everything we need. What we miss is the ability to go to a restaurant or travel somewhere nice for a day trip as the weather gets warmer. Oh, I know… I wish we had bought and installed a dishwashing machine.

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

I haven’t learned anything new about myself because of this crisis. This is just another situation that is part of life that we need to figure out a solution for or to manage how to deal with it.  I approach this problem as I would any other… rationally and trying to figure out what needs to be done to keep life for my family as relatively normal as possible.

My high opinion of the population of Rogatec was reinforced by the way that everyone is working together to make sure that we make our day to day interactions limited and safe for everyone.  I’m impressed with the stores, and especially with the people who work in them, that they are still doing business as usual, albeit from behind a Plexiglas partition and everyone wearing gloves and masks.  This small town solidarity is something that I’ve never really experienced before moving to Slovenia, and I appreciate it.

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’sXenia Guzej. You can see more of here work here.

Contents

Coronavirus death toll in Slovenia rises to 28

Strict lockdown measures in Slovenia to last another 2-4 weeks

Foreigners write about their experience of the lockdown in Slovenia

Coronavirus death toll in Slovenia rises to 28

STA, 5 April 2020 - The coronavirus death toll rose by six to 28 on Saturday, as the number of confirmed cases increased to 997, up by 20 from the day before, show the latest statistics released by the government on Sunday. A total of 655 tests were conducted, for a total of 27,764.

While the death toll has been rising rapidly in recent days, hospital numbers have been mostly flat or even declining.

The number of persons in hospital with Covid-19 dropped by 1 to 108, having peaked at almost 120 at the end of March. Of those, 31 were in intensive care, the same number as the day before.

Jelko Kacin, the government spokesman for the coronavirus epidemic, said five patients had been released from hospital yesterday and 98 since the start of the epidemic.

Almost 200 residents of nursing homes are among those infected along with 48 health professionals working in nursing homes. A total of 156 health staff have been infected so far.

Slovenia confirmed its first coronavirus infection on 4 March and the first coronavirus death on 14 March.

The age structure of the fatalities has not been officially disclosed.

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Strict lockdown measures in Slovenia to last another 2-4 weeks

STA, 5 April 2020 - Strict lockdown measures that Slovenia introduced three weeks ago to fight the coronavirus epidemic are working and they will last "at least two to four weeks," only then will Slovenia consider starting relaxing the measures so that life may start returning to normal, government spokesman Jelko Kacin said on Sunday.

"Once we initiate relaxation measures, they will have to be carefully planned and measures, with the awareness that we will have to live with the virus and the epidemic for a while," Kacin, the spokesman for the coronavirus epidemic, said at the government's daily media briefing.

His words were echoed by Bojana Beović, an infectious disease specialist who heads the Health Ministry's medical task force for coronavirus. She said Slovenia was handling the epidemic well due to the strict measures and hospitals have not been overwhelmed yet, but she said this was merely "an intermediate objective".

The curves have been flattened and the epidemic has been brought into a "stationary state" but "we have not yet been able to reverse the trend". Reversing the curve will depend on government measures as well as the actions of each individual, she said.

Slovenia reported 28 confirmed coronavirus deaths by Saturday, up by six in a day, whereas the number of confirmed infections increased by just 20 to 997.

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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 your situation and sanity levels.

 I am traveling with my wife, Rachel. We are healthy. We both retired last year and decided to spend some time traveling around the world. We have been traveling since mid-January, and we arrived in Slovenia on March 1. We have an apartment in Ljubljana with a full kitchen, a washing machine, and a balcony. We expect to stay here until at least late May, but if we can extend our tourist time here, we will because it is safer here than in our hometown of Washington, DC. We are staying sane because we have developed routines. We read news or watch videos on our computers in the morning, we try to go for a walk in the park mid-day, then we have a late lunch (on our balcony if the weather is nice enough), and we read books on our Kindles in the evening. I also take photographs and sometimes amuse my wife by Photoshopping them. For example, I changed the name of the restaurant, "Landerik" to "RachelandErik" in Photoshop. In general, though, it's like we are living the movie "Groundhog Day!"

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

 We realized the coronavirus was going to impact the whole world in a serious way when the northern half of Italy was locked down in early March. Then, when concerts and events here in Ljubljana were starting to get cancelled, we realized that strict coronavirus restrictions were going to soon be imposed here in Ljubljana, which would change our holiday here to be more of a "staycation."

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

 We are impressed by how the Slovenian government is handling the coronavirus crisis. The general consensus of experts around the world seems to be that if the restrictions seem like too much, they probably are appropriate, and it appears to me that Slovenia is following that example. I wish restaurants were open, or that I could get a haircut, but I understand that these businesses must be closed for the greater good. We feel completely safe here in Ljubljana. With rare exception, people give each other enough space when walking past each other, and the queues inside and outside the shops are orderly.

 Now compare that to your home country and how they are handling it.

 We live in downtown Washington, DC, less than 2 kilometres from the White House. Washington, DC and the two states that surround it -- Virginia and Maryland -- all have coronavirus, and they all recently locked down. There are several differences between how Slovenia is handling the crisis versus the USA. Different states in the USA have had different responses to the coronavirus crisis; some were quick to lock down, and some still have not. In the absence of clear advice from the federal government in the USA, the states have had to try to figure things out for themselves and some of the results have been disastrous. In contrast, Slovenia promptly decreed restrictions, and all municipalities and towns were bound to follow them. Simply by comparing the curves of the rates of infection in Slovenia versus the USA, Slovenia's method seems to have been more effective.

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

 We do not receive communications from Slovenian authorities. We check Slovenian news websites to stay up-to-date on Slovenian news related to the coronavirus. We receive regular updates from the US Embassy here in Slovenia, and the ambassador recently hosted a Zoom video call for all Americans in Slovenia, where she told us what the Embassy is doing to help, and she answered our questions. We also receive daily emails from the U.S. Embassy here with news and infection numbers in Slovenia.

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

 More pajamas! Yes, seriously. We are in our apartment many hours per day, and I stay in my pajamas for much of the day. I only brought two pairs of pajamas. I wish I had others because it is getting old wearing the same ones most of each day, and I assume my wife is tired of seeing me in the same ones every day, too!

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

 My wife and I have learned the importance of health over everything else. You can have all the material goods in the world, but if you get sick or worse, they won't do you any good. And we have learned about the deep goodness of most people. Slovenians have been so kind to us during this time of crisis. It warms our hearts.

Erik and Rachel Cox are retired lawyers from Washington, DC. In their spare time, Erik enjoys running and photography, and Rachel enjoys studying homeopathy and healthy living. Follow Erik on Instagram at @erikcoxphotography and follow Rachel on Facebook at www.facebook.com/homeopathyexplorer

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

Number of coronavirus cases rises to 977; 22 deaths confirmed

No major violations of new movement restrictions

Austria partly opening Holmec border crossing

Number of coronavirus cases rises to 977; 22 deaths confirmed

STA, 4 April 2020 - Two more deaths related to the new coronavirus in Slovenia were recorded on Friday, putting the death toll at 22. The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases rose by 43 to 977 in a day, the government said on Twitter.

A total of 1,188 tests were performed yesterday. The number of hospitalised persons dropped from 112 to 109, while the number of patients in intensive care rose by one to 31.

According to coronavirus crisis spokesperson Jelko Kacin, ten people were released from hospital on Friday.

The country's biggest hospital, UKC Ljubljana, had 49 Covid-19 patients today, including 14 in intensive care, the hospital said on Twitter.

The Celje hospital reported of 16 patients on Twitter this morning, of whom five were in intensive care. Two patients were released today.

Old-age facilities remain a hotspot of the disease in the country, with the number of persons infected in these facilities rising by 16 to 195 on Friday. Among staff, 42 people were infected, seven more than on Thursday, show data from the Ministry of Labour, the Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities.

The first coronavirus test in Slovenia was conducted on 27 January. Until the first infection was confirmed, 313 tests were performed per infection. Between 4 March and Friday, additional 27.109 tests were conducted.

Medical staff has been warning they are under tremendous pressure and will not be able to keep up like this for much longer. If the functioning of the health system in other areas will be this restricted for long, this could cause more deaths in the long-term than coronavirus, they warn.

Staff in intensive care is particularly burdened. According to Tomaž Vovk, a specialist in dialectology and intensive care, who works with Covid-19 patients at UKC Ljubljana, doctors are working 12-hour shifts and treat three to four times more patients than normal.

"Another problem is the protective gear. In order to make full use of it, we sometimes work in it for five, six or seven hours without a break, which means we cannot go to the toilet or drink," he told the STA.

He said the situation was currently still manageable but if it continued for a long time, it would become too much to handle. "Everyone who needs intensive care receive it. We have enough time available to treat these patients," he said.

He welcomed all state measures to contain the epidemic and people's cooperation. "We do not wish to be in a situation where we would not be able to offer intensive care to these patients and would be forced to chose between patients," he said.

Epidemiologist of the National Public Health Institute Tit Albreht and GP from the Celje community health centre Katarina Skubec Moćić meanwhile pointed to the needs of citizens who are not infected with coronavirus but have other health problems.

American analyses have shown that if only as many people got ill as the health system can handle then the epidemic would last for 18 months. But if the public health system were paralysed in this way for 18 months then other medical conditions and chronic diseases could kill more people than the virus, Albreht said.

Skubec Moćić warned that people have the same health problems as before the epidemic while the accessibility of health services was much lower. "The pressure on patients and medical staff is stepping up by the day. I think next three weeks will be crucial to see whether the measures we have adopted were sufficient," she said.

The virus is not going to simply disappear, so it would make sense to slowly start providing certain health services again in a controlled area, she believes.

However, ensuring enough protective gear has been one of the main challenges of this epidemic for all countries not just Slovenia. The country continues to receive shipments of protective gear but Civil Protection head Srečko Šestan said today they sufficed only to cover day-to-day needs, primarily in health.

Today, a shipment of 336,000 three-pleat masks and 10,800 protective suits arrived, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek announced on Twitter. On Friday, he said three millions of three-pleat masks were in, and on Thursday 19,500 FFP2 masks arrived.

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No major violations of new movement restrictions

STA, 4 April 2020 - Police were checking compliance with movement restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus across the country, detecting no major violations on Saturday. Increased oversight will continue the entire weekend, focussing on popular tourist spots.

Police are patrolling public surfaces and checking passengers at motorways and other roads. Officers are also responding to reports of alleged violations from citizens.

People are mostly honouring restrictions, police say.

Since the new movement restrictions stepped into force on 30 March, confining citizens to their home municipalities, 836 warnings have been issued and in just over 1,000 cases violations were reported to the health inspectorate, which can issue fines.

Police officers working on the border have not been transferred inland yet to help check compliance with movement restrictions, as there has been no need for this so far, said acting Police Commissioner Anton Travner as he visited the Fernetiči border crossing with Italy today.

"At this point, Slovenian police has the situation under control but as the disease progresses the situation will surely change," he said.

He believes there is not enough police officers to respond to multiple challenges, related to the new coronavirus on the one hand and the issue of migrations on the other.

According to him, the army could be very helpful in controlling the migrations to help police. Since the entire population is becoming infected with coronavirus, Travner expects police officers to get infected as well. "Perhaps even in greater numbers, because they are much more exposed than ordinary population."

Travner hopes 700-800 troops could help out police exclusively on the border in dealing with migrants.

About 1,000 police officers are conducting tasks related to movement restrictions due to coronavirus around the country on a daily basis.

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Austria partly opening Holmec border crossing

STA, 4 April 2020 - Foreign Minister Anže Logar and his Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg have agreed that the Holmec border crossing, which Austria recently closed as it put in place additional restrictions to contain the spread of coronavirus, will be partly open as of Monday so as not to cause problems for Slovenians commuting to work to Austria.

Holmec is very important for the people in the Slovenian border region Koroška, many of whom use it for their daily commute to work in Austria, the Slovenian Foreign Ministry said.

This is why diplomatic efforts had been under way the past few days to keep the crossing at least partly open.

The ministers agreed it will be open between 5am and 8am and 3pm and 6pm.

"Austria's move reflects its flexibility in respect to the needs of the people living on the border, and we see it as a sign of neighbourly cooperation in the times of crisis and stepping up of measures in the pandemic of the new coronavirus," the ministry said.

On Thursday, Austria closed Holmec along with several other border crossings. The move upset the people from the Mežiška valley who would subsequently have to commute to work to Austria through the Vič border crossing, which however is open only between 5am and 11pm, which means those who start work in Austria early would be late for work.

The region's mayors have thus appealed to the ministries of foreign and interior affairs for the crossing to remain open just like the other two crossings connecting the region with Austria, Radelj and Vič.

Austria had initially closed dozens of crossing points as of 18 March. On 27 March Slovenia reintroduced police checks on what is the EU's internal border and introduced 13 points of crossing.

There are now restrictions in place on all of Slovenia's borders, either introduced by Slovenia or by the neighbouring countries.

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Four weeks ago, I was prancing around Istanbul, wining and dining, merrily catching up with old friends and students – and mercifully, getting my haircut by my favourite hairdresser. Invitations flew back and forth, and promises to visit Ljubljana in spring and summer ensued.

I returned joyously to the clean air and green of Ljubljana, and settled down to fine tuning my first English Immersion Experience, an English course, scheduled for the 20th March. We had optimum numbers and it was all systems go .

Then a friend working in China emailed to say she couldn’t come skiing, she was in compulsory quarantine and couldn’t leave China, because of a virus. I was disappointed, but put it down to Chinese politics, and decided to go skiing to Italy after the course.

Then a week later, on Monday, a FB friend in Trieste started writing posts on FB which read like something out of Camus’ Plague, and I investigated The Virus a bit further. It wasn’t deadly, and it was restricted to Northern Italy, so I continued at my usual hectic pace, unconcerned. Then on Thursday, we got our first cancellation for the course, and by Thursday afternoon I had got notice that all my corporate classes would be postponed until the rather ominous sounding- further notice. Schools were shutting, and companies were instigating a  working from home policy. I was left with no option but to postpone our course – a double whammy  for a self-employed (SP) teacher!

The next day, I leapt out of bed at 7am and whilst hurriedly performing my ablutions, I suddenly remembered that all classes were cancelled. My blood pressure plummeted and I passed clean out, whacking my head  on the bathroom tiles. I came to, dazed, with a throbbing and bleeding head and a strong sense of pending doom. I was in Phase 1 – Shock.

I passed rapidly from shock, into Denial, phase 2, mounted my trusty bike, and pedalled furiously into town, where it was quiet but shops were still open. Foolishly I didn’t stock up on my favourite chilli coffee and Japanese tea – in fact, I didn’t shop at all, but stopped off at various  coffee shops along the river and tried to absorb the implications of what was unfolding around me. That night I met a friend in the pub, and we lamented our losses, but decided it would only be for a week or two and started planning summer holidays.

The weekend was eerily quiet, and I cycled out into the country, stopping by at Levada for a late lunch. Halfway through my mushroom risotto, they politely asked me to eat up and pay up, they were closing early, and I was the only customer. They would be shut until further notice.

As I was preparing to leave,  my friend from London called to say how much she was looking forward to coming on the 1st of April. I explained what was happening, and that it looked like everywhere would be shut. She hesitated with disbelief, and then announced she would come anyway. We could cycle and hike, and she would cook.

Meanwhile, the increasingly gloomy Facebook posts from Italy continued, and my old schoolfriend from Spain rang to say that she had bought the last cans of disinfectant from the village shop, and had spent the day disinfecting her house, while her rather portly partner had been stocking up on red wine and beer. She was panicking. He had heart problems and she wasn’t letting him loose. I tried to calm her by explaining that it wasn’t lethal, unless you had health complications, like heart problems, and that old people died from flu every year, and after all, SARS had been much more deadly. After every platitude, her voice grew shriller, and I could feel the terror in her voice. I realised that my platitudes were having the opposite effect, thanked my lucky stars that we weren’t in lockdown, and hung up before we both fell out.

Back home, my landlady informed me of the latest restrictions, that on Monday public transport would cease, and only food shops and pharmacies would be open. She didn’t think it would really affect her and her husband at all. Seeking sanity from London friends, I called them with my woes. They responded with tales of going to the West End, playing tennis, and socialising as normal,  and my actor friend informed me that his show would go on – and he expected me there on the 4th April!

On Monday, I woke early, it was eerily quiet, not even the usual birdsong. As I lay in bed calculating my losses, as by now almost all my Slovenian students had ‘postponed’, my denial moved on to the next stage in the cycle, Anger.

My anger increased exponentially as more and more draconian restrictions were imposed, fertilized by the misinformation and meaningless statistics being spewed over social media and the gutter press. Facebook  abounded with fear-induced threads which spread the panic faster than the virus.

I was also angry at the rapidity with which my once carefree and full  life had been so abruptly curtailed, and that I was, in effect, abandoned in solitary confinement, indefinitely.

Thanks to copious phone calls from loyal friends I’m not yet lonely, but I am alone. And deep down I am a little frightened – not so much by the virus, but by my hypotension caused by the nagging anxiety about work and money, compounded by the fact I have no one to hug, pat me on the back and tell me it will all be better soon.

Meanwhile, my friend  from London was still playing tennis, having dinner parties and going to the West End, but the shutting of Ljubljana airport had made her realise that Slovenia was serious, while in the UK, Boris, the tousle haired buffoon – along with most of the UK, was still in Denial stage.

All over the world, friends were going into lockdown and disbelief. My phone was getting clogged with silly videos, and ‘how are you’s?’ , and one could almost feel the fear spreading its tentacles, while the virus watched and laughed.

Then came the Detachment (not bargaining, as I am in isolation) phase, as I ceased looking at the FB posts and chain messages of amateur epidemiologists and doom-laden soothsayers, and focussed on Prince Charles and George Aligayha, the BBC presenter and erstwhile friend. They had both posted  encouraging video messages of their recovery, despite Charles being 73, and George, 64, being in the middle of chemo. Back in the UK, several medic friends in the ‘front line’  in their 50s and 60s caught it, and reported mild symptoms followed by a week-long recuperation.. Flu is never pleasant, but fear undoubtedly lowers the immune system and will make it worse. Let’s have some positivity, please.

So currently in Detachment phase, made easy by my imposed solitary confinement – I am slowly getting my focus back, and have almost lost that discombobulated feeling I had in the first two weeks.

For physical sustenance, I am experimenting in cooking Jamie Oliver’s  ‘quick and easy’ meals, with mixed results, and I made myself a wonderful immune booster called Firecider, a strong tasting brew comprising ginger, garlic, horseradish, turmeric, rosemary, onion and cider vinegar. After two weeks ‘resting’, it turned out looking like urine, but with a ‘kick’ that both stimulates the immune system, and also doubles up as a rather fast acting laxative. Well, mine did!

For mental sustenance, I’m stampeding through courses on www.futurelearn.com , and I’m currently so caught up in my screenwriting course that I worked last night till 4.30am. I’ve  signed up to BBCi player and binge watch ancient episodes of Porridge with increasing empathy. I cycle deep into the countryside for two hours every day, eternally thankful for the natural beauty surrounding me, and pine quietly for the tantalisingly snow-capped mountains so near, but so out of reach.

But I yearn for the friendly ambience of riverside cafes, and long cool swims in Jezero with laughing, healthy friends and the vitality and joy of the back-flipping twins I once taught. People look so preoccupied, so serious, no one is smiling and the newly introduced masks make it impossible.

However, the next phase is Depression – but if I can remain in actively occupied Detachment phase, and the government grant removes my S.P. contribution angst,  I am hoping to stave off the depression and bypass it to the stage after which is acceptance, and let’s face it – with or without a goodnight hug, a comforting smile and a shared dram – we are all in this together, even if we are living alone. Onwards and upwards!

You can find out more about Carol Jardine at her website, SpeakEasy English.

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 Saška Grušovnik. You can see more of her work here.

Contents

Number of coronavirus cases rises to 977; 22 deaths confirmed

Vulnerable groups to shop one hour more from today

Flour, rice and pasta top sellers amid Covid-19

Minister excited about efforts to increase food self-sufficiency amid crisis

Number of coronavirus cases rises to 977; 22 deaths confirmed

STA, 4 April 2020 - Two more deaths related to the new coronavirus in Slovenia were recorded on Friday, putting the death toll at 22. The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases rose by 43 to 977 in a day, the government said on Twitter.

A total of 1,188 tests were performed yesterday. The number of hospitalised persons dropped from 112 to 109, while the number of patients in intensive care rose by one to 31.

According to coronavirus crisis spokesperson Jelko Kacin, ten people were released from hospital on Friday.

The first coronavirus test in Slovenia was conducted on 27 January. Until the first infection was confirmed, 313 tests were performed per infection. Between 4 March and Friday, additional 27.109 tests were conducted.

On Friday, 6,348 members of the civil protection and relief forces were activated to deal with the epidemic, data from the Information Centre show.

Medical staff is warning they are under tremendous pressure and will not be able to keep up like this for much longer. If the functioning of the health system in other areas will be this restricted for long, this could cause more deaths in the long-term than coronavirus, they warn.

Staff in intensive care is particularly burdened. According to Tomaž Vovk, a specialist in dialectology and intensive care, who works with Covid-19 patients at the UKC Ljubljana hospital, doctors are working 12-hour shifts and treat three to four times more patients than normal.

"Another problem is the protective gear. In order to make full use of it, we sometimes work in it for five, six or seven hours without a break, which means we cannot go to the toilet or drink," he told the STA.

He said the situation was currently still manageable but if the situation continued for a long time, it would become too much to handle. "Everyone who needs intensive care receive it. We have enough time available to treat these patients," he said.

He welcomed all state measures to contain the epidemic and people's cooperation. "We do not wish to be in a situation where we would not be able to offer intensive care to these patients and would be forced to chose between patients," he said.

Epidemiologist of the National Public Health Institute Tit Albreht and GP from the Celje community health centre Katarina Skubec Moćić meanwhile pointed to the needs of citizens who are not infected with coronavirus but have other health problems.

American analyses have shown that if only as many people got ill as the health system can handle then the epidemic would last for 18 months. But if the public health system were thus paralysed for 18 months then other medical conditions and chronic diseases could kill more people than the virus, Albreht said.

Skubec Moćić warned that people have the same health problems as before the epidemic while the accessibility of services was much lower. "The pressure on patients and medical staff is stepping up by the day. I think next three weeks will be crucial to see whether the measures we have adopted were sufficient," she said.

The virus is not going to simply disappear, so it would make sense to slowly start providing certain health services again in a controlled area, she believes.

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Vulnerable groups to shop one hour more from today

STA, 4 April 2020 - Vulnerable groups such as the disabled, pensioners and pregnant women are being given one more dedicated shopping hour from Saturday after being so far encouraged to shop for supplies only between 8am and 10am to minimise the risk of coronavirus infection.

Under a decision taken by the government last night, two time slots will be reserved for vulnerable groups from Saturday, between 8am and 10am, and between 5pm and 6pm, when shops close.

Pensioners will be allowed to shop only during those times, the Government Communication Office said.

The extra hour comes after several associations called for a longer time slot dedicated to vulnerable groups, including the Trade Union of Pensioners and the coalition Pensioners' Party (DeSUS). DeSUS proposed an additional time slot between 1pm and 3pm.

The party argued that offering only the two-hour morning slot to more than 650,000 people was not appropriate.

On Thursday, Equal Opportunities Ombudsman Miha Lobnik and the association Silver Lining called for extension of the time slot reserved for those most at risk from 8am to noon.

The government amended the decree at today's correspondence session and the new version was already published in the Official Gazette.

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Flour, rice and pasta top sellers amid Covid-19

STA, 4 April 2020 - Sales of flour, rice and pasta rose more than four-fold in Slovenia in the week from 9 to 15 March compared to the same period last year, data by Nielsen agency shows. Cereal, canned meat, and pre-made sauces and soups recorded a growth rate of between 200% and 300%.

This was in the week when the government declared a coronavirus epidemic on 12 March, when residents were becoming more worried about the outbreak and potential food shortages.

Retailers in Slovenia recorded a 67% jump in the value of sales compared to the comparable week last year, that is from 11 to 17 March 2019.

The value of foods sold at shops around the country increased by 64% and the value of goods other than food by 77%.

Soaps and plastic gloves were also in big demand, posting a rise of 200% to 300%, with glove sales further rising by almost 400% in the week from 16 to 22 March.

Consumers also bought increasing amounts of toilet paper and washing powder, while alcohol drinks posted a drop.

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Minister excited about efforts to increase food self-sufficiency amid crisis

STA, 4 April 2020 - Agriculture Minister Aleksandra Pivec hailed on Friday a decision by a company growing orchids to also start growing vegetables as a case of rapid adaptation that can serve as an example to others on how to increase food self-sufficiency in the country in these times of crisis and in general. She announced government measures to facilitate this.

Paying a visit to Ocean Orchids, which decided to use its greenhouses to also grow salad and plans to expand to other vegetables if the situation demands it, Pivec spoke of a successful practice that was a response to the crisis.

Ocean Orchids Roman Ferenčak said that the technology available made it possible to convert such greenhouses for this purpose practically overnight.

The main message is that greenhouses provide the key answer to the crisis Slovenia is in, as the country has very poor self-sufficiency when it comes to vegetables, Ferenčak added.

The pair discussed the legal aspects of greenhouses, whose status has been subject to different interpretations.

Pivec said that the government was looking into the matter and added that "if we are talking about facilities that are meant for other types of production but can be redirected to food production fast, we need to adjust all procedures involved in setting up such agricultural objects".

The minister announced an action plan that would quickly encourage food growers to expand production. The phasing of EU funds will be adjusted to this purpose as well, she said, adding it needed to proceed as fast as possible and without unnecessary bureaucracy.

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The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 3 April 2020. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here

Mladina: Govt using coronavirus to push its own agenda

STA, 3 April 2020 - Commenting on the government's actions in the light of the coronavirus epidemic, the left-wing weekly Mladina argues that Prime Minister Janez Janša is capitalising on the coronavirus crisis and driving his own political agenda by proposing extreme measures that use people's fears to appear warranted.

One would hope that Janša has learned his lesson after three "thunderous falls from power", that he "finally knows he must respect democracy, the existence of different opinions, that experts' opinions are professional even if people have different political beliefs, and most notably, that in this country one cannot rule this way".

When he started showing first signs of doing just that, driving disproportionate measures to bend Slovenia's society to his will, it was first thought that the extreme times called for a bit tougher ruling methods to ensure that citizens internalise Covid-19 containment measures or it was said that the government was still finding its feet during difficult circumstances.

However, the situation has escalated quickly, says the commentary headlined Propaganda War, adding that Janša's party, the Democrats' (SDS), is truly admiring the developments in Hungary.

History teaches us that there is plenty of people who "want to have absolute power and who actually see democracy as something which limits them. And that such people are currently leading quite a few countries".

"Everything that seems like a bad version of a grotesque is true," says Mladina, listing a few examples when Janša pushed his own agenda of "transforming this nation into one great SDS party", such as convincing people that some citizens were actually flocking to tourist spots over last weekend.

Some media found families and individuals at the seaside and lakeside resorts, but they talked about "an invasion". The government knew this did not actually happen - "the police issued only some 90 warnings across Slovenia, and only a few in the Gorenjska and Primorska regions" which are deemed the most popular for weekend trips, but the situation nevertheless paved the way for a ban on movement outside municipal units.

On top of that, the government's coronavirus crisis spokesperson Jelko Kacin scolded couples and families for sitting closely to each other on benches in parks as if they were children.

The weekly wonders why such conduct is tolerated if families are after all allowed to stay together during the crisis. Moreover, it also points out that the government has made a clear distinction between couples and "couples" by laying down that only those living in shared households are allowed to be with each other during the lockdown.

After the introduction of the municipal ban, children of divorced parents are not even allowed to see the other parent if they live in another municipality.

Mladina hence argues that the government is "abusing the epidemic of a dangerous virus for its own political purposes", capitalising on our fears and distress.

Such actions should not be tolerated, particularly in such circumstances, says editor-in-chief Grega Repovž, adding that relevant data show citizens are actually respecting the restrictions and should deserve praise for that.

Demokracija: Condemns media critical of govt

STA, 2 April 2020 - The right-wing weekly Demokracija is critical in its commentary on Thursday of "leftist mainstream media attacking the centre-right government willy-nilly with heavy artillery". It says this reaction is understandable because anti-coronavirus measures have not only been well-received by the people, but also undermine the leftists' agenda.

This agenda is known as cultural Marxism and is based on the undermining of traditional values. These ideas have long been spread by a variety of NGOS, mostly founded and funded by George Soros, the weekly's editor-in-chief Jože Biščak says under the headline Resurrection.

"Now this delusional dream of Slovenia again becoming a swampy socialist community, are bursting... The hardest blow being that LGBT activists and retarded social scientists can no longer brainwash students."

Now, for at least a few months, upbringing in back in "the right hands - the hands of parents". Parents must build a mental wall in the heads of their offspring so that "no degenerate leftist idea will ever again come near the brains of our descendants".

Children must come to understand that there are only two sexes and that each has its own historical burden in preserving a nation. They must understand that "hordes of foreigners from Africa and the Mohammedan world cannot replace noble Slovenian women and courageous Slovenian men".

"These days, luckily, we are witnessing a slight turning in Slovenia back to the family, religion, patriotism, the almost forgotten principles, above all there can again be seen a return to values that allowed the Slovenian nation to survive."

Demokracija says leftist media fear that Slovenia would wake up a different nation after the coronavirus epidemic. "Not a dictatorship, a threat they have been using to scare the people, but a country of free people, who showed in isolation their true solidarity and brought back humble pray to God."

"This will be a renewed resurrection, in which progressive 'rebellion' will disappear and Slovenia will be on its way to a new future, where nothing will be out of reach of hard-working hands."

All our posts in this series are here