STA, 5 July 2021 - Prime Minister Janez Janša has called for joint efforts to convince people to get vaccinated against coronavirus as he warned that a vaccination rate of 70% would have to be achieved until the end of the summer if Slovenia is to avoid new lockdowns.

"If we do not achieve a vaccination rate of 70% by the end of the summer, everything will be closed in autumn," he told the National Assembly at the outset of the plenary session on Monday.

"This is the only way to prevent having to pass legislation making vaccination mandatory for certain categories," he said.

Slovenia initially set the target of 60% vaccination rate by the beginning of summer, but as of Monday 39% have received one shot and 33% have been fully vaccinated.

Janša warned that the delta variant of the novel coronavirus, first detected in India, was 60% more transmissible than the alpha variant, which was first identified in the UK, and even some countries close to Slovenia had forecast that there would be a new wave as early as the end of July.

He said that vaccines were "to a large extent the appropriate answer", noting that despite sufficient vaccine supplies, Slovenia and certain other EU countries were "victims of a certain conviction ... that others will get vaccinated and I will be among the 30% who do not have to be".

He said certain EU member states were already mulling mandatory vaccination of adults, while certain others were considering mandatory jabs for groups such as health workers, employees at nursing homes, teachers, and staff working in critical infrastructure.

The majority of countries are also discontinuing free testing. "Why should those who have been vaccinated pay for you to get a free test because you refuse to get vaccinated?" he wondered.

Janša also argued the media could do much more to counter anti-vaccination prejudice. "At this point the most that can be done is for media to organise debates and answer people's dilemmas and fears."

As for criticism that the government has failed in how it has handled the pandemic, Janša said the opposition had tried very hard to make the battle against the pandemic as difficult as possible and to unseat the government.

STA, 5 July 2021 - More restrictions on the services sector will be lifted on Monday. Casinos will fully reopen and there will be no more restrictions on the number of customers in shops. The rule of reconvalescence, testing or vaccination remains in place indoors.

Shops will no longer be restricted to accepting only one customer per 10 square metres, and bars and restaurants will no longer need to secure a distance of three meters between tables and face masks will no longer be required indoors.

Casinos had so far been allowed to offer up to 75% of their gaming capacities, and now this restriction too will be lifted.

There will also be no more restrictions for convention activities. So far, 75% of seats were allowed to be occupied with one seat empty in-between.

However, the rule of reconvalescence, testing or vaccination remains in place for customers inside bars and restaurants, casinos, accommodation facilities, night clubs, and for visitors of congresses.

Employees of hair salons, beauty parlours, and providers of non-medical counselling and therapeutical services, education and training etc. will also still need to be vaccinated or tested if they are not reconvalescent.

Customers, including in shops, who can prove they have been vaccinated, tested or have recently recovered from Covid-19 no longer need to wear face masks indoors.

Masks are also no longer obligatory for visitors or performers at outdoor or indoor culture events, where the rule of reconvalescence, testing or vaccination remains in place.

Restrictions regarding the number of visitors have also been lifted for libraries, archives, museums and galleries, for cultural events and for visiting cultural heritage sights.

All restrictions for sports and recreational activities have also been lifted for both individual or in group activities. There are no more restrictions on the number of spectators at sports events and they no longer need to wear face masks.

Clubs and discotheques will remain open from 5pm to midnight.

This is the latest in a series of easing of restrictions driven by a favourable epidemiological situation. The new rules will apply until 11 July.

STA, 1 July 2021 - As of Thursday, Slovenia is fully green on the map of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), as the western part of the country joined the eastern part, which made it to the green list last week.

Being put on the green list of the ECDC are countries, regions or territories where the 14-day incidence of coronavirus infections per 100,000 residents is below 50 and the share of positive tests in all tests below 4%.

The incidence may be up to 75, but in that case the positivity rate must be below 1%.

These criteria are now fulfilled by the entire Slovenia, where the 14-day incidence in the period until 27 June, according to the ECDC, is approximately 40 per 100,000 residents.

Also green on the list is a majority of the EU member states, with the exception of Portugal, parts of Spain, Ireland, Latvia, around half of Sweden, a third of Finland and the majority of Belgium and the Netherlands.

The map based on data reported by member states represents the basis for recommendations of the EU Council regarding non-essential travel within the EU during the Covid-19 pandemic. See more maps here based on the data here

Slovenia Introduces Digital COVID "Passport", Paper Version Coming This Week

STA, 30 June 2021 - Prime Minister Janez Janša raised the prospect of schools having to be kept closed in the autumn unless everyone gets vaccinated against Covid-19, while he also discussed EU presidency and investment in the Podravje region in a radio interview during the government's visit to the north-eastern region on Wednesday.

"If we get vaccinated, schools and kindergartens will be open in the autumn, if we don't, they won't be and we'll be paying the price again," he told an interview with Radio City.

Like the health minister before him, Janša said it was just a question of time when the more virulent Delta variant of coronavirus would spread and how intensively.

"We have an answer to it and it's vaccination," he said. "Seeing what's happening in Britain, which has one of the highest rates of vaccination and at the same time the most Delta variant, we are no longer talking percentages, we're talking we must all get vaccinated," Janša said.

As Slovenia assumes the rotating EU presidency tomorrow, Janša said the government would get organised so it could continue with regional visits in the coming months and make sure the available funding, including from the EU, be distributed and invested fairly and effectively.

"The government's visit to the region at a time when it is assuming the presidency is a symbolic gesture showing this government will not forget about Slovenia even during the presidency."

Slovenia's eastern cohesion region, which includes Podravje, has EUR 400 more available for investment over the next seven years than in the previous period, Janša said, promising "substantial financial injections" for Maribor.

He pledged the government would do everything in its power to keep the headquarters of NKBM bank, which has recently been acquired by the Hungarian bank OTP, in Maribor. "We'll contact the owners and persuade them that Slovenia is not just Ljubljana, that it's this government's plan to decentralise Slovenia."

STA, 30 June 2021 - More restrictions on the services sector will be lifted on Monday, the government decided at a session held as part of its visit to the Podravje region on Wednesday. Casinos will fully reopen and there will be no more restrictions on the number of customers in shops. The rule of reconvalescence [i.e. recovery], testing or vaccination remains in place indoors.

As of Monday, shops will no longer be restricted to accepting only one customer per 10 square metres, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek said on Twitter.

Bars and restaurants will no longer need to secure a distance of three meters between tables and face masks will no longer be required indoors.

Casinos have been allowed to offer up to 75% of their gaming capacities as of last Monday, and now this restriction too will be lifted.

There will also be no more restrictions for convention activities. So far, 75% of seats were allowed to be occupied with one seat empty in-between. As of Monday, all seats can be occupied, Počivalšek announced.

However, the rule of reconvalescence, testing or vaccination remains in place for customers inside bars and restaurants, casinos, accommodation facilities, night clubs, and for visitors of congresses.

Employees of hair salons, beauty parlours, and providers of non-medical counselling and therapeutical services, education and training etc. will also still need to be vaccinated or tested if they are not reconvalescent.

Clubs and discotheques will remain open from 5am to midnight.

The government also decided today to lift all restrictions for sports and recreational activities be it individual or in group activities. There are no more restrictions on the number of spectators at sports events and they no longer need to wear face masks.

As of Monday, restrictions will be lifted also for libraries, archives, museums and galleries, for cultural events and for visiting cultural heritage sights.

This is the latest in a series of easing of restrictions driven by a favourable epidemiological situation. The new rules will apply from 5 July until 11 July.

The government also made some changes to the green list of countries today, adding entire Croatia and Germany, as well as Switzerland and Montenegro to the Covid safe list as of Saturday. New to the list are also Estonia, Lithuania and Luxembourg, the government said.

Several administrative units of countries were also added to the list, which now includes most of France, and several Greek regions, including the Ionian Islands and Western Greece.

Most of Belgium remains on the orange list, while the Flanders administrative unit is now on the green list.

These changes too will be in place until 11 July.

STA  - Slovenia test-introduced the European digital Covid certificate last Thursday, June 24, while the system will be fully up and running this week.

For registered uses with digital identity, the certificate is now available on the zVem portal.

Make Sure You Have a “Digital Identity” to Get Your EU COVID Travel Certificate

Those who have been vaccinated with both jabs, or with one in case of the single-dose vaccines, will receive the certificate to their home address by 30 June.

A few days later, those who have already recovered from Covid-19 and those vaccinated with only one jab will also receive it.

The certificate which some 900,000 persons are to receive to their home addresses will be the same as the one that can be downloaded from zVen and printed.

The certificate has a QR code enabling simple checking of data about vaccination, test results or reconvalescence.

Poklukar said that in the coming days, police will start using special devices to check the certificates on the border.

In July, an app will be available for access to the zVem system so that "one will have one's digital certificate in one's phone", he said.

No later than 1 July, a digital coronavirus certificate could also be obtained at vaccination and testing points around the country.

People will also have an option of having it printed for up to two euros at most of the pharmacies.

Poklukar is happy that all EU member states have managed to introduce the digital certificate, which he believes will enable all citizens to travel more freely.

He stressed, however, that the digital certificate did not yet mean free entry to all EU countries because countries decide on entry rules on their own.

The minister once again called on people to get vaccinated to successfully weather the challenge of the fourth, autumn, wave of the epidemic.

"Let's join forces to get vaccinated. For our common well-being and to the benefit of all. Stay well, Slovenia," he said, as he draw a parallel between the challenges times of the epidemic and the period when Slovenia became independent.

Visit the zVem website

STA, 28 June 2021 - Slovenia reported 12 new coronavirus infections for Sunday and no Covid-19 deaths, show the latest government figures. The 7-day average of new cases fell from 37 to 32 and the 14-day incidence per 100,000 population dropped by one to 35.

The latest cases come from 648 PCR tests with the positivity rate standing at 1.9%. A total of 6,644 rapid antigen tests were also performed yesterday with all positives there double checked with PCR method.

The number of patients in hospital decreased by one to 74 this morning after six were discharged home, and the number of ICU cases also fell by one to 22.

According to an estimate by the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ), there are now 774 active cases in Slovenia, down from 785 the day before.

See the latest data here

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 25 May 2021. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here

Mladina: Investigate excess Covid-related deaths

STA, 24 June 2021 - In its latest editorial, Mladina looks at Slovenia's infamous statistics on excess Covid-19 deaths, infections and low vaccination rates, and calls for investigations into responsibility for the failure to control the epidemic under the headline It Is Time. To Speak About The Dead.

As the second wave of the Covid-19 epidemic in Slovenia is waning and the third is on the horizon, the left-wing weekly says that it is time to speak about the excessive and unnecessary deaths caused by the epidemic, adding that "we need to find the reasons behind this and prevent it from happening again."

Mladina adds that Slovenia is among the world's top ten countries in several ill-famed statistical categories related to infections, deaths and vaccination.

"In Slovenia, there have been up to 1,500 excess deaths - at least 30% too many people died in the second wave compared to comparable countries. Now that things have calmed down, at least temporarily, the people responsible for excess deaths must be held accountable."

Mladina then points the finger at PM Janez Janša, former Health Minister Tomaž Gantar, Labour Minister Janez Cigler Kralj and the head of the national advisory group for Covid-19 vaccination, Bojana Beović.

"They deliberately left sick elderly people in nursing homes and forced people to go to work despite infections and dangerous contacts. When someone takes up public office, they acquire rights, but also assume responsibilities."

Mladina says that blame for excessive deaths also lies with those medical professionals who "allowed themselves to be instrumentalised by politics and give it credibility in marginalising the only relevant professionals in this case, the epidemiologists."

"In countries with low immunisation rates, among which Slovenia is shamefully high, things will be much worse, and these people, starting with Janša, are incapable of finding solutions. The public does not respect them and does not follow them either.

"None of them is willing to assume responsibility for excess deaths and back down. They are aware that by holding on to their positions, they are also preventing investigation into their responsibility from taking place," concludes the editorial.

Demokracija: Slovenian independence

STA, 24 June 2021 - The right-wing weekly Demokracija praises Slovenia's independence and the process of achieving it in its latest editorial on Thursday, saying that Statehood Day marks the most important national holiday and the day when Slovenians gained their greatest asset - a sovereign state.

Under the headline Celebrating the Hallowed Time of the Slovenian Nation, the commentary begins with saying that "patriotism means love and respect for the homeland, the cultural heritage and traditions of our ancestors, who for centuries longed for the homeland to become a country."

"Through love for our nation, traditions, religion and culture, we survived communism, the worst form of totalitarianism, and the heroes of that time (1990-1991) were able to muster the strength to unleash a national charge in spite of the betrayals of the transitional left, which constantly opposed independence."

The weekly then says that "the first democratic elections in 1990 formally abolished the one-party rule, but they were not fair, as the League of Communists, led by Milan Kučan, retained as much as a third of the legislative power and then did everything it could to prevent independence."

"They did not succeed, even though they scared Slovenians into how we were too small, saying that the Yugoslav Army would trample us. Us good people stood together and proved how wrong they were and how evil their intentions were."

Demokracija adds that "after we gained an independent and sovereign country, it seemed for a moment that our children would now grow up in a fairer, kinder, more democratic and free environment. Unfortunately, the cleansing (lustration) did not take place."

"Slovenian people worked hard and wanted to patiently help the young country to progress. All that was destroyed by ideological successors of communism. That is why the current Prime Minister Janez Janša is right to point out that, although Slovenia became independent, it did become liberated."

The weekly also hails "the hallowed time of the Slovenian nation, its heroes, ancestors, roots and lineage," concluding the commentary with "Happy birthday and long live Slovenia! God bless our country and God bless the Slovenian people."

All our posts in this series are here

STA, 23 June 2021 - Slovenia reported 50 new coronavirus cases for Tuesday as the 7-day average fell by a further ten to 59. One patient with Covid-19 died, government figures show.

Only 2.5% of the 2,038 PCR tests performed yesterday came back positive, as a total of 17,715 people were screened with rapid antigen tests.

The cumulative 14-day incidence per 100,000 residents dropped by ten from the day before to 56, show data from the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ).

Hospitalisations also decreased, by nine to 83, with 29 patients now in intensive care, down by four.

The NIJZ estimates there now 1,199 active cases in the country, out of a total of 257,117 confirmed since the first case was confirmed in March 2020.

Data released on the government website show a total of 4,743 patients with Covid-19 have died.

A total of 804,193 people have received their first shot of a vaccine against Covid-19 and 605,471 have been fully immunised, which represents 38% and 28.8% of the population, respectively, according to NIJZ.