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.
Seven new coronavirus cases recorded, death toll up by one to 80
Tourism, retail severely affected by coronavirus
Gradual opening of borders for tourists might start in May
Getting married made possible again from Tuesday
More than 32,000 self-employed get monthly allowance
Seven new coronavirus cases recorded, death toll up by one to 80
STA, 24 April 2020 - Slovenia recorded seven new coronavirus cases on Thursday to bring the total number of infections to 1,373, as one more person died for a total death toll of 80, according to government data released on Friday.
The number of people in hospital with Covid-19 declined by two to 78, of whom 24 were in intensive care, up by one.
Slovenia has so far performed just over 47,000 coronavirus tests, with 1,315 performed on Thursday.
Tourism, retail severely affected by coronavirus
STA, 24 April 2020 - The Covid-19 crisis has severely affected March figures for tourism and retail business. Accommodation facilities recorded a 75% drop in arrivals and 67% fewer night stays over March 2019, while retail revenue fell by 15.1% year on year, the latest Statistics Office figures released on Friday show.
The country switched to a lockdown mode on 16 March, when a temporary government ban on selling goods and services entered into force.
As a result, the number of domestic tourists decreased by 69% and the number of nights fell by 62%. The drop for tourists from abroad was even sharper, at 78% and 71%, respectively.
The number of tourists from Italy, one of Europe's major coronavirus hotspots, plummeted by as much as 85%.
Although the lockdown in March was in place only slightly more than the last two weeks, it affected tourism figures for the entire first quarter.
The January-to-March period recorded a 28% drop in tourist arrivals over the same period in 2019 and a 23% decrease in nights.
While 2019 was the sixth consecutive record year for Slovenia's tourism industry, the Slovenian Tourist Board expects a 60-70% slump this year in the best-case scenario, that is if restriction easing begins as early as June, and several years needed for full recovery.
With most of the shops except for groceries closing on 16 March, retail revenue was down 13.5% in real terms in March over February and 15.1% over March last year.
Contributing the most to the annual drop was a 22.5% drop in the revenue of non-food shops and a 25.65% drop in specialised shops selling fuels, that is petrol stations. Groceries meanwhile posted a rise of 4.8% in real terms.
Retail revenue was by 7% lower in the first three months than in the same period last year, with service stations seeing the biggest drop of 14.4%.
The service stations were affected the most in all three comparisons: revenue dropped by 35.5% over February, by 37.4% over March 2019 and by 14.3% in the first three months compared to the same period last year.
Gradual opening of borders for tourists might start in May
STA, 24 April 2020 - Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek, who is in charge of tourism, expects that the restrictions affecting tourism, chiefly closed borders, could gradually be relaxed in May. The government is thus working on "a corona standard" to provide for the safety of tourists and tourism workers.
He said the government was trying to define protocols for individual sectors of tourism in collaboration with businesses and the National Institute of Public Health.
"We'll set a corona standard so that both guests and staff feel safe," he said at the government's coronavirus briefing in Ljubljana on Friday.
With over 70% of tourists coming to Slovenia from abroad, the focus is on convincing them that tourist services are provided in a safe manner.
"This is a prerequisite for thinking about opening the borders. I gather the first steps in this respect would be taken in May."
EU ministers in charge of tourism will discuss the matter on Monday, to be followed by a meeting of ministers of Central European countries which can be reached by car.
On Wednesday or Thursday, Počivalšek will meet his counterpart from neighbouring Croatia and a meeting with the Austrian side is also planned.
The Covid-19 crisis severely affected March figures for tourism, with accommodation facilities recording a 75% drop in arrivals and 67% fewer night stays over March 2019, the latest Statistics Office figures show.
The number of tourists from Italy, one of Europe's major coronavirus hotspots, plummeted by 85%, followed by Austrians (-71%) and Croatians (-64%).
Getting married made possible again from Tuesday
STA, 24 April - Couples in Slovenia will be able to get married again from Tuesday under special terms after civil ceremonies were suspended in mid-March due to the coronavirus epidemic. But weddings are still off.
Marriage ceremonies will be possible "in a somewhat scaled-down setup, with due consideration of the circumstances", Public Administration Minister Boštjan Koritnik announced at a briefing on Friday.
If the newly wed couple and the honour attendants need to cross municipal borders, they will be issued a special license by the administrative unit.
The Public Administration Ministry ordered all administrative units in mid-March to suspend all but the most urgent business and services, including issuing marriage licences.
As the number of new coronavirus cases has been reduced to a trickle, the authorities have been easing some of the restrictions.
From Tuesday, couples will be able to get married in official offices or outdoors. Apart from the newly-weds, the official clerk can be present. If the ceremony is outdoors, the best man and maid of honour can be present too, the minister said.
A decision on whether to allow the best man and maid of honour to be present at an indoor ceremony will be taken by the leadership of the administrative unit in charge.
However, in such a case the room or hall needs to be large enough to allow sufficient distance between everyone attending.
More than 32,000 self-employed get monthly allowance
STA, 24 April 2020 - Just over 32,000 self-employed, farmers and religious workers who lost their income as a result of the coronavirus pandemic got their monthly basic income on Friday, a total of EUR 11.2 million for March.
The EUR 350 allowance was transferred to claimants who submitted a statement via the Financial Administration's e-tax system by 18 April that the epidemic prevented them from doing business or severely affected its scope.
Based on the applications, the Financial Administration today transferred a total of EUR 11.2 million to 32,015 beneficiaries, publishing their names on its web site.
Apart from the basic monthly income, the first stimulus package, in effect since 11 April, also exempts the self-employed, farmers and religious workers of social contribution payments.
They are eligible for aid from 13 March when Slovenia declared the epidemic to the end of May. For April and May they will get monthly allowances of EUR 700.
Those who filed their applications by 18 April were transferred money today, while the rest can do so by 31 May, with the money to be added to one of the next transfers planned for 10 May and 10 June.
Eligible for the allowance are those who suffered a loss of income of at least 25% in March compared to February, or a 50% drop in April or May compared to February. The claimants need to have all their tax liabilities settled when due.
Under amendments to be discussed by the parliament next week, the government proposes extending eligibility to the self-employed whose revenue this year will be down more than 10% on 2019. If they did not do business throughout 2019 or 2020, monthly income will be taken into account.
