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Wednesday's tests confirm 11 new Covid-19 cases, death toll up by two to 91
Ban on travel outside of home municipality lifted
Athletes returning to training, competition ban to be lifted for individual sports
Visits to elderly homes possible again
Wednesday's tests confirm 11 new Covid-19 cases, death toll up by two to 91
STA, 30 April 2020 - The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Slovenia increased to 1,429 on Wednesday, as 11 more people tested positive in what were 1,252 tests conducted. Two persons died, bringing the total death toll in the country to 91, the government said on Thursday.
The number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals decreased by 12 more to 63, of whom 22 were in intensive care, three fewer than on Tuesday.
More than 52,000 tests have been performed in Slovenia so far. The testing also included 1,291 samples taken in the random testing campaign launched on 20 April.
No new infections were recorded as part of the campaign yesterday, meaning the result so far remains one new case along with one more that was already diagnosed a month ago.
Government spokesman Jelko Kacin announced today that the results of the random testing study would be presented after the May holidays, probably already on Monday.
Ban on travel outside of home municipality lifted
STA, 30 April 2020 - Slovenian residents are free to travel to places other than their own municipality of residence as of Thursday after the government lifted a ban put in place a month ago to help contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The restriction confining people to their home municipality except to go to work, seek emergency services or offer assistance to relatives was introduced a month ago to stop the spread of coronavirus epidemic around the country and has been one of the most unpopular government measures.
It was relaxed once already to allow people to do seasonal and maintenance work on property outside their home municipality, and now it has been removed from the general lockdown decree issued by the government.
All other restrictions to prevent the transmission of Covid-19 remain in place. People are thus required to physically distance in public places, they have to wear masks and use hand sanitizer in closed public spaces, and gatherings of groups of people outside the same household remain prohibited.
Athletes returning to training, competition ban to be lifted for individual sports
STA, 30 April 2020 - Education and Sports Minister Simona Kustec has announced Slovenian athletes will be able to start training again next week, while the government is also lifting most of the restrictions pertaining to competitions in individual sports.
"We are also lifting measures for competitive sports. This will primarily apply to individual sports and under specific security conditions also to collective sports. Competitions in individual sports will also be allowed, but without spectators," the minister told commercial broadcaster POP TV on Wednesday, adding she hoped competitions would be broadcast live.
Training sessions are expected to resume on 4 May. "We just need to check the security measures with the National Institute for Public Health. The protocol is progressing well and we expect this will be the date when sport will be reactivated," she said.
While Slovenian athletes will thus be joining their colleagues in Croatia, Austria and elsewhere in Europe in returning to training, competitions are not expected shortly, since Slovenian athletes abandoned organised practice sessions in mid-March when the coronavirus epidemic was declared.
Minister Kustec was not available for detailed explanations at Thursday's government briefing on the coronavirus state of play, but the government's chief medical adviser for the epidemic, Bojana Beović, urged caution.
Not yet able to provide any timelines and specific guidelines for team sports and contact sports, she suggested teams could resume with training but individually. Group sessions would only make sense if a team secluded itself, imposing a kind of quarantine on all players, she argued.
The first partial lifting of lockdown restrictions in sports occurred on 20 April when a limited number of outdoor sports facilities, including tennis courts, golf courses and bowls pitches, were reopened for recreational purposes.
Visits to elderly homes possible again
STA, 30 April 2020 - Visits to homes for the elderly are again possible as of today, yet under very strict safety rules, Janez Cigler Kralj, the minister in charge of social affairs, announced on Thursday. Plans to relax public passenger transport on 11 May, and dental services are also in the making.
Weighing in on whether to relax the ban on visits, the government was guided by good epidemic figures and the stress the elderly are subjected to without visitors, he explained at the government's daily coronavirus briefing.
However, visitors will have to make an appointment in advance, and upon entering the retirement home, give a statement that they have been in good health over the past two weeks and that they have not been in contact with an infected person.
Only one person can visit a resident, either a relative or a volunteer, the minister of labour, the family, social affairs and equal opportunities said.
The visits are recommended to take place outdoors or in large indoor areas, if possible without any physical contact.
"Our goal is to find a balance between protecting the lives and health of the residents and their right to social contact, which is very important for their mental well-being."
Since a number of protocols needs to be observed to provide for safety, Ciglar Kralj does not expect all care homes will be able to open the doors today.
Nevertheless, they are advised to do it as quickly as possible, but definitely before 11 May, said the minister.
May 11 is also the date when public passenger transport could be relaxed, the government's coronavirus spokesperson Jelko Kacin announced.
Infectious disease specialist Bojana Beović, the head of the government's medical task force for the epidemic, said very strict rules would be drafted before the ban is lifted.
As a series of restrictions are being lifted, including the ban on inter-municipal travel today, Beović said the radical measures imposed by the state would now have to be replaced with "our responsible behaviour".
If the trend of one infected person infecting only "an average of half a person" continues, the epidemic will slowly ease off, provided no infections are brought in from abroad, she said.
However, should the trend worsen only slightly, we could witness a major rise in hospital treatment in September.
"If the epidemic gets out of control again, and one person infects one and a half persons, we'll have an unmanageable situation in September," Beović illustrated.
She believes one cannot count on the epidemic to end for a year, noting a medicine or a vaccine accessible practically to the entire community would first be needed.
Beović said another set of measures could be relaxed in two weeks time, once the impact of the measures relaxed so far on the epidemiological situation is clear.
She announced that plans to relax dental services are also in the making, and yet again urged people to act in a responsible and self-protective manner.
