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 Gordana Grlič of Trubarjeva cesta's Photo Pauli.
Five new Covid-19 deaths yesterday, cases up by 28 to 1,248
Gloves no longer mandatory in closed public places
Slovenia to conduct random testing to determine scope of coronavirus infections
Five new Covid-19 deaths yesterday, cases up by 28 to 1,248
STA, 15 April 2020 - The government reported on Wednesday that five more persons had died of Covid-19 yesterday to bring the overall death toll to 61. The number of persons infected with the new coronavirus is meanwhile up by 28 to 1,248.
The number of new cases is up compared to Monday as the number of tests more than doubled to 1,168, bringing the total number of tests to 37,114.
While the daily numbers of fatalities and infected persons were up, the number of hospitalised patients dropped by seven to 96, and the number of intensive care cases was down by one to 34.
A total of 13 Covid-19 patients were discharged from hospital yesterday, the figures released by the government on Twitter also show.
The National Public Health Institute (NIJZ) meanwhile reported that the share of confirmed cases was, expectedly, the highest among persons older than 85, as testing mostly included persons with the most serious symptoms.
The NIJZ noted that another important reason for the high incidence rate in the oldest population group were outbreaks in nursing homes.
On Monday, the rate for this age group was 250.6 per 100,000 population, which is significantly higher than in the lower age group (75-84 years), where it stood at 87.9.
As for the younger generations, the rate ranges from 41.6 per 100,000 population in the 15-24 age group to 70.1 in the 45-54 age group. In the youngest age group (0-4 years), the rate was 5.9 and in the 5-14 age group it was 9.9.
The latest NIJZ statistical data on deaths, which refers to a total of 53 cases, show that more than 80% of persons in Slovenia who died of Covid-19 were older than 75, and almost 60% were over 85.
The gender structure is balanced, with 27 of the victims being women and 26 men. The number of women older than 85 who died of Covid-19 is much higher than that of men (22 to 9), but this is very likely due to higher life expectancy.
Gloves no longer mandatory in closed public places
STA, 15 April 2020 - Protective gloves are no longer mandatory in closed public places such as shops, pharmacies and post offices as of Wednesday. Hand sanitizer must be used instead and it has to be provided by the business owners. Face masks are still mandatory.
The government had made it mandatory to wear face masks or an equivalent face and nose covering and gloves in closed public places on 30 March.
The decree was amended on Tuesday night mandating that instead of gloves, hand sanitizer must be used upon entering and exiting a closed public space.
The decision comes after the Ministry of Health said last week that many people were not using gloves correctly. Since the decree was originally adopted, hand sanitizer has been more widely available after initial severe shortages.
Slovenia reported 56 coronavirus deaths and 1,200 infections as of Monday. The curve of infections has been flattened but the government has decided to wait a few more days before starting to ease lockdown restrictions.
Slovenia to conduct random testing to determine scope of coronavirus infections
STA, 15 April 2020 - Slovenia will conduct random population testing to get a reliable estimate of the scope of the coronavirus epidemic. The trial will include antibody tests, Miroslav Petrovec, the head of the Institute for Microbiology and Immunology at the Ljubljana Faculty of Medicine, told the press on Wednesday.
A representative random sample of the population numbering between 1,000 and 1,500 people will be tested pending approval by the national commission for medical ethics. The test will presumably start next week, according to Petrovec.
The test, conducted nation-wide, will involve technicians visiting people agreeing to the test at home and taking both nasal swabs to determine the presence of the virus SARS-COV-2 as well as conducting a serological test for antibodies. The tested persons will also fill out a questionnaire.
That way, the health authorities will get a clearer picture of how many people have been infected and how many have antibodies, whose presence indicates that they had been in contact with the virus.
The results will give researchers an estimate of the actual number of the people who may have been infected but were asymptomatic, according to Petrovec.
While random tests have been conducted in Austria and Iceland and are planned in Germany, Petrovec said Slovenia's would be the first such comprehensive test in Europe.
Petrovec expects the Slovenian study will provide better results than the Austrian test as it will provide data not just on the number of infected persons but also the number of those who had been sick but have recovered.
The preliminary results are expected before the May Day holidays and would inform government decisions on the easing of lockdown restrictions.
"This will help decision-makers to adopt measures based on realistic figures," Petrovec said.
Slovenia already has a limited number of antibody tests and they will be used as a matter of priority for this study.
The trial will be managed by the Institute for Microbiology and Immunology in cooperation with the faculties of computer science, mathematics and social sciences in Ljubljana and UKC Ljubljana, Slovenia's largest hospital.
