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 Aleksander Sandi. You can see more of his work here.
Only one person tests positive on Monday, no new deaths
If positive trends continue, return to normal life to accelerate
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Only one person tests positive on Monday, no new deaths
STA, 12 May 2020 - A total of 1,182 tests for Covid-19 were performed in Slovenia on Monday, resulting in only one positive test to bring the total number of infections to 1,461. No deaths were recorded, with the death toll remaining at 102.
A total of 40 patients diagnosed with Covid-19 were in Slovenian hospitals yesterday, nine of whom were in intensive care, show the figures released by the government on Tuesday.
A total of 64,547 tests for Covid-19 have so far been carried out in Slovenia.
If positive trends continue, return to normal life to accelerate
STA, 12 May 2020 - Should the favourable trends regarding the Covid-19 epidemic in Slovenia continue until the end of the week after some measures were relaxed after the May Day holidays, the authorities believe it will be possible to make even bolder decisions to further normalise life in the country.
Bojana Beović, the head of the Health Ministry's advisory task force for the coronavirus, told the press on Tuesday she was optimistic about the prospects of life in Slovenia getting back to normal in almost all fields.
She noted that the epidemic was slowing down, as no more than ten new infections on a daily basis had been recorded since 30 April. This is a growth of less than 1%, and every infected person infects less than one new patient on average.
According to Beović, this relatively small share of infected persons in the entire population is a result of timely and effective measures to stem the epidemic and the very diligent work of epidemiologists on the ground, who had studied every case and contained them with quarantine measures.
She nevertheless warned about some unresolved issues related to what is expected to be an inevitable increase in the number of infections in the future, saying that the capacity of the healthcare system remained a problem, not so much in terms of equipment, but space and staff.
Beović noted that a coordinated action with other countries was needed to contain the pandemic, as the opening of national borders within the EU must be decided by consensus and initially limited to countries with a comparable level of risk.
"The risk for getting infected with the new coronavirus does not only show in the number of the infected, but also in how an individual country manages the epidemic," added the infectious disease expert.
Government spokesman Jelko Kacin said that the cabinet would discuss an exit strategy and possibilities to relax certain measures in Brdo pri Kranju later today.
He noted that the number of hospitalised Covid-19 patients, including in intensive care, was gradually decreasing, and "I expect that not later than on Thursday we will have clear enough trends about to what side the scales are tipping."
Kacin added that Slovenians were interested the most in travelling to the neighbouring Croatia, but talks about how and when to open the border were still under way, including between the countries' national public health institutes.
Beović noted that people who enter Slovenia must still submit to a week-long quarantine, after which possible infection or lack thereof was confirmed with a test.
