Covid & Slovenia, Mon 19/10: 537 New Cases; 9pm-6am Curfew Starts Tuesday

By , 19 Oct 2020, 12:55 PM Politics
Covid & Slovenia, Mon 19/10: 537 New Cases; 9pm-6am  Curfew Starts Tuesday covid-19.sledilnik.org

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STA, 19 October 2020 - Updated 14:20 Slovenia confirmed 537 new coronavirus cases in 2,637 tests on Sunday. The positivity rate exceeded 20% for the first time, the government's coronavirus spokesman Jelko Kacin told the press on Monday.

The number of cases confirmed since the start of the epidemic reached 13,678, of which 7,103 are active, according to data by the tracker Covid-19.Sledilnik.

The 14-day cumulative rate of infection per 100,000 people reached 339 compared to 317 the day before.

There are currently 289 people in hospital, 55 of them in intensive care, respectively up by 24 and 6 over the day before, according to the data tracker.

9pm-6am curfew as of Tuesday

STA, 19 October 2020 - A 9pm-6am curfew will be put in place across Slovenia on Tuesday to limit the spread of coronavirus, Interior Minister Aleš Hojs announced on Monday. The ceiling for gatherings will be lowered from ten to six people and a blanket ban on movement among statistical regions will be in place, although there are some exceptions.

Hojs told the press that the curfew follows the example of some other EU countries, for instance France, and is the result of the finding that a major share of transmissions has been occurring at private gatherings in the evening.

While the coastal Obalno-Kraška region is presently the only among Slovenia's 12 statistical regions still designated as orange as opposed to red, its inhabitants are no longer allowed into other regions.

Obalno-Kraška region, located in the far south-west, has remained the only orange region after Goriška in the west and Primorsko-Notranjska in the south-west, have also joined the regions more than 140 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in the last 14 days.

This means there will be no more movement among statistical regions and while a number of exceptions remain in place - notably those related to work, emergency situations and services, family assistance and farm work - some exemptions have been scrapped, including for tourist bookings already made.

While the emergency exemptions also apply to the curfew, Hojs stressed that all gatherings and events, including religious services and "semi-private ones like weddings" are banned. Only members of the same household are exempt from the gatherings ban.

The government defined in greater details the possibilities for crossing the border. These do not apply to transit, which will not be stopped.

"If you have property or land abroad that needs urgent maintenance, household members have the possibility to cross the border," he said, while stressing this does not mean it is permitted to go on holiday. "Lying in the sun is not an urgent chore," the minister said.

Public transport will not be shut down, libraries, museums and galleries also remain open, "but it needs to be stressed that decrees are already ready in case museums and galleries will also have to be closed".

Hojs said fines would range between EUR 400 and EUR 4,000 and explained that the fines are issued in line with the act on communicable diseases.

The minister said that fines can for now only be issued by the Health Inspectorate, but that the police will also have this power after the fifth coronavirus stimulus package, adopted by parliament three days ago, enters into force.

"Until then, the police officer will identify you, pass all of your data to the health inspector and the fine itself will be issued by the Health Inspector," Hojs said, while indicating warnings would primarily be used in the initial stage of the ban.

The latest statistics on coronavirus and Slovenia, and the latest police news on red, green and yellow list countries. All our stories on coronavirus and SloveniaCan I transit Slovenia? Find out from the police...

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