Ljubljana related

03 Mar 2022, 14:58 PM

STA, 3 March 2022 - Face masks will no longer be obligatory in schools and other educational institutions as of Monday under the latest relaxation of restrictions that the government confirmed on Thursday. This applies to both teachers and students, Health Minister Janez Poklukar said.

Other restrictions remain in place for now, including the mask mandate for indoor public spaces.

Slovenian health authorities will start issuing Covid certificates for those who had a positive rapid antigen test whose results were not confirmed with a PCR test.

According to Poklukar, this is in line with the latest EU guidance.

Slovenia has phased out the Covid pass in most settings, with only health institutions, care homes and prisons now requiring a Covid pass for visitors.

27 Feb 2022, 08:24 AM

STA, 26 February 2022 - Slovenia confirmed 1,784 new coronavirus infections on Friday in what is the second day in a row that the figure dropped below 2,000 for the first time since early January. The total of active cases has fallen below 50,000.

Hospitalisations kept decreasing with government data showing 418 patients were treated for Covid as their main condition in hospitals this morning, down by nearly 30 on the day before. A total of 93 needed intensive care, down by seven.

The total of patients in hospitals who are infected with Covid, including those who have contracted the virus but are treated for other conditions, dropped by 73 to 622. Another 13 people with Covid died.

The 14-day incidence per 100,000 people and the seven-day average of new cases continued to steadily decrease - the former dropped by 265 to 2,230 and the latter by 277 to 2,144, shows data by the National Institute of Public Health.

The number of currently active cases decreased by some 5,500 to 47,062.

All the latest data on covid and Slovenia

24 Feb 2022, 08:15 AM

STA, 23 February 2022 - The Kranj Local Court has issued convictions for five men involved in a Covid-19 vaccination fraud where one of them got vaccinated on behalf of the other four. The verdicts are not yet final, the daily Delo reported on Tuesday. One of the defendants was given a sentence of ten months in prison, while the other four were fined.

In addition to the prison sentence for the man who had received jabs for the other four, the court imposed a fine of EUR 2,550 on two and a fine of EUR 1,360 on the remaining two.

The Kranj Health Centre told Delo that it was tragic that a man whose plight had been exploited by others was sentenced to imprisonment, whereas the others received only a fine.

Last December, the police charged the five men from the Gorenjska region and Ljubljana area for vaccination fraud. The man who took the shots for the others to get the Covid pass received seven doses of a coronavirus vaccine, together with the two doses for himself, and was caught attempting to get the eight shot.

Since the man received a small payment for this, the police believe that the four men exploited his plight and personal circumstances to their own advantage and induced him to commit the offence despite the possible consequences to his health.

Radio Slovenija reported at the time that the man who had got the jabs for other people was allegedly a drug addict.

Under the law, taking jabs in somebody else's name or presenting fake Covid certificates carries a sentence of up to three years in prison.

22 Feb 2022, 07:53 AM

STA, 21 February 2022 - Virtually all Covid-19 restrictions are being lifted in Slovenia on Monday except for the wearing of masks and hand sanitising indoors. Proof of recovery, vaccination or negative test (PCT) will only be required in hospitals, care homes and prisons.

Under the decisions taken by the government on Saturday, there will no longer be a cap on gatherings or the number of people allowed inside shops, hospitality and other services establishments.

Meanwhile, cultural institutions await more detailed instructions by the government to ascertain whether a distance of 1.5 meters will still have to be heeded at cultural events.

Also scrapped are restrictions on the opening hours of hospitality establishments, and night clubs can reopen. Unseated guests will still be required to wear face masks indoors and hand sanitising remains in force like in other activities subject to easing.

At outdoor public events, masks are recommended when a distance of 1.5 meters cannot be maintained.

The Covid pass or PCT requirement remains mandatory for staff and service users at hospitals and those undergoing certain procedures such as endoscopy or oral surgery, but it is not mandatory at health centres. It also remains in place at social care institutions, prisons and other correctional facilities, except for those aged up to 15.

Students will no longer need to self test at schools, but face masks remain obligatory under the same conditions as so far.

Free self-tests and rapid antigen tests are no longer available, except in certain cases. The government will pay for the costs of tests in activities where testing is still compulsory.

Rapid antigen testing remains free of charge for those who get a positive self-test result, those with Covid-19 symptoms and those who would like to end self-isolation early after a seven-day period.

Since Saturday, contacts of infected persons are no longer required to quarantine, but those who test positive still need to self-isolate.

The infected are also urged to notify those with whom they have been in close contact within 48 hours before testing positive of the risk of infection.

Their contacts are advised to take a test or self-test 7 days after the last risk contact and to avoid unnecessary contacts with other people for 14 days since being in contact with the infected person.

Since Saturday, the Covid pass is no longer required to enter Slovenia.

The near universal PCT requirement has been in force since 15 September last year with further restrictions such as the curfew on bars and restaurants imposed in early November.

20 Feb 2022, 10:13 AM

STA, 20 February 2022 - Slovenia will lift Covid restrictions on shops, services and other businesses on Monday, including restrictions on opening hours of hospitality establishments and the ban on night clubs, under a decision taken by the government on Saturday.

The decision was taken as the government gave its go ahead to scrap the Covid pass mandate for all activities except for healthcare institutions, care homes and prisons from Monday. The cap on the number of customers in services is also being lifted.

Under restrictions imposed in early November last year, bars, cafes and restaurants have so far been allowed to serve customers at tables between 5am and 10pm provided they had a valid Covid pass. Night clubs have been closed.

In announcing the easing of measures on businesses, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek said the government opted for a balanced approach to keep protecting the health of the most-at-risk groups while at the same time allowing life to resume as normal as possible and business to function efficiently.

"We have thus met the calls from the economy as far as the medical experts have allowed," said the minister, calling for everyone to continue to act responsibly. "The economy can function efficiently and intensively only if the employees are healthy," he added.

19 Feb 2022, 18:09 PM

STA, 19 February 2022 - Covid pass will no longer be required in Slovenia as of Monday, except in healthcare and social care institutions, and in prisons, Health Minister Janez Poklukar told the press after today's correspondence session of the government. Students at schools will no longer need to self test either.

In line with the latest government decisions, free self-tests and rapid antigen tests will thus no longer be available. The state will only cover for the costs of tests in activities where testing will still be required.

Students will no longer need to self test at schools, but face masks remain obligatory under the same conditions as so far.

Poklukar urged the citizens to continue to act responsibly despite easing of the measures.

This comes after the government last night decided to abolish the quarantine requirement after high-risk contact with an infected person, and the Covid pass for entry to Slovenia, effective today.

19 Feb 2022, 10:00 AM

STA, 18 February 2022 - The government has decided passengers entering into Slovenia will no longer have to produce a Covid pass after having abolished the requirement that those in high-risk contact with an infected person no longer have to quarantine.

The decree enters into force one day after it has been published in the Official Gazette. It is not yet clear when the next Official Gazette will be published.

The Government Communications Office said Covid-19 was "no longer considered a quarantine disease" which is why there is no need for passengers to show proof of vaccination, reconvalescence or testing.

No further easing of restrictions yet

STA, 18 February 2022 - The government was expected to start easing coronavirus restrictions this week, but the only step it has decided to take is to waive the quarantine requirement for those in high-risk contact with an infected person effective on Saturday and end contact tracing.

"We will ease the restrictions gradually and thoughtfully," Health Minister Janez Poklukar told the press after a cabinet session on Friday.

He said a new round of consultations with experts would be completed before the government reconvenes to take a decision, which he said would hopefully come "as soon as possible".

While he admitted the situation was rapidly improving, the minister said hospitalisations were still high and Slovenia had the second highest number of Covi9-19 patients per capita in the world.

At a meeting earlier this week, the government's medical advisers proposed the gradual abolition of the Covid pass for shops, banks, post offices and administrative units, and the abolition of quarantines in case of high-risk contacts as well as contact tracing.

17 Feb 2022, 11:50 AM

STA, 17 February 2022 - Slovenia's coronavirus curve keeps falling both in terms of new cases and hospitalisations. A total of 4,542 new cases were confirmed on Wednesday, just over a third of the figure reported a week ago.

Government data shows a total of 513 patients were being treated in hospitals for Covid-19 as their main condition this morning, including 108 in intensive care units.

Hospitalisations thus fell by another 16 from yesterday where the number of ICU cases is down by two.

The overall number of patients with confirmed coronavirus infection in hospitals also fell, by 21 to 890.

This was after another 14 patients died yesterday after testing positive for coronavirus.

According to the National Institute of Public Health, the 14-day incidence per 100,000 people fell by 572 to 4,945 and the seven-day average of new cases by 1,077 to 5,581.

An estimated 104,310 people are actively infected in the country, which is a decrease of more than 12,000 from yesterday's estimate.

The latest infections were picked from 2,446 PCR tests and 91,353 rapid antigen tests.

More data on Slovenia and COVID

16 Feb 2022, 10:05 AM

STA, 15 February 2022 - Health experts outlined a gradual easing of measures against the Covid-19 epidemic at a consultation with the government on Tuesday, proposing the abolition of the Covid pass for shops, banks, post offices and administrative units, and the abolition of quarantines in case of high-risk contacts.

Health experts have proposed several ways to loosen the anti-epidemic measures, said Mateja Logar, head of the government's Covid-19 expert group, after the consultation on the current epidemiological situation.

As announced by Health Minister Janez Poklukar at a press conference after the meeting, the experts discussed the gradual phasing out of the recovered, vaccinated, tested (PCT) rule, testing and quarantines, among other things.

Logar said that the expert group would propose to the government to scrap the PCT rule for activities where the risk of transmission is relatively low due to short-term contacts - retail, administrative units, banks, post offices, petrol stations.

However, they propose to maintain the rule that sets out a maximum number of people inside such establishments at the same time, and it is still important to maintain general hygiene measures, as well as to keep remote work where possible, she added.

The experts stressed that it was still important to respect the basic principle of staying at home if a person is sick. They will also propose some changes to the operation of other sectors, such as catering, congress and trade fair activities.

In the catering sector, they will propose to abolish the PCT rule in outdoor areas, while maintaining the limit on the number of guests on terraces or gardens. Scrapping the PCT rule for the interior of pubs is not being considered for the time being.

Slovenia's chief epidemiologist Mario Fafangel said that experts also propose to end quarantines for high-risk contacts and to stop searching for high-risk contacts of an infected person.

Fafangel believes that contact searching "simply no longer produces the desired results". The responsibility for notifying people of high-risk contacts will now rest with the infected individuals themselves.

Epidemiologists also suggest that people who have had high-risk contacts within the same household should test themselves regularly for seven days from the date of contact.

Any changes are still to be decided on by the government, but minister Poklukar said that imposing mandatory quarantines in case of high-risk contacts could come to end as early as Friday.

"I will deliver all these recommendations to the government and I am confident that we can implement many of them relatively quickly in the next few days by amending the decrees currently in force," he added.

He also announced that free rapid testing will be phased out alongside the phasing out of the PCT rule, while Logar added that a PCR test will again become the norm to confirm infection in people with coronavirus symptoms.

Poklukar also stressed that protecting the most vulnerable people and the healthcare system itself remained the top priority, especially in light of the number of hospital beds occupied by patients with Covid-19, which is still relatively high.

However, given that the number of people that require hospitalisation is steadily dropping, hospitals anticipate that they could return to normal operation soon after 10 March, according to current projections.

Logar also said that the opinions and recommendations of the expert group have taken into account the characteristics of the omicron variant, as it can now be confirmed that it causes a slightly different and milder form of the disease.

Bojana Beović, the head of the national advisory committee on immunisation, believes that no new and more infectious variants than the omicron are expected to emerge, but added that the virus's future disease-causing capacities were still unclear.

15 Feb 2022, 11:30 AM

STA, 15 February 2022 - Cultural institutions and associations have addressed a letter to decision-makers to fully reopen cultural venues in Slovenia, and lift all coronavirus restrictions which govern organising and visiting cultural events by 21 February at the latest.

The appeal, which was among others sent to the president, government, parliament and political parties, was signed by 70 organisations, including most theatres and museums, several festivals and arts centres, as well as Kino Šiška and the GIZ KOS association of concert organisers.

Slovenia's culture and events sector have quickly adapted to provide for safe events, "but they cannot adapt to excessive measures which hamper or fully prevent a large segment of events which can be organised only without seats and distancing and with venues filled to full capacity if events are to be economically feasible".

The letter says that Slovenia is one of few countries where not only masks and a Covid pass but also distancing of visitors who need to sit on fixed seats is required. It says that compared to Great Britain, Ireland, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, France, Hungary, Italy, Austria and Croatia, only Slovenia has such strict restrictions.

The signatories argue that the restrictions no longer contribute to improving the epidemiological situation, so they urge the government to gradually scrap them, first the restrictions about distancing and fixed seats, and in the next stage, which should follow soon, the Covid pass, while masks should become recommended.

The letter says that after two years of closures and restrictions, and events held under impossible conditions in between, "it is time for the doors of cultural venues to open widely and for culture to breath with full lungs".

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