STA, 2 March 2021 - The government adopted a revised vaccination strategy at a correspondence session on Monday, envisaging 61 vaccination centres, including 13 in hospitals, Health Minister Janez Poklukar told the press on Tuesday. No changes have been made to the priority groups, but the minister presented the order of vaccination in more detail today.

The 61 vaccination centres will include 13 centres in hospitals, which will be intended for medical staff but also chronic patients, a military vaccination centre, and a centre at the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ), which also distributes the vaccines.

The priority groups remain the same, with health workers on top of the list, followed by people over 80 years, then 75 and 70 years, and then patients with chronic diseases who are particularly vulnerable regardless of their age.

Next in line for the vaccine are diplomats and Foreign Ministry officials as well as officials from other ministries travelling to other EU countries due to the upcoming Slovenia's presidency.

Then come diplomatic representatives of other countries in Slovenia and soldiers leaving for missions abroad.

The list continues with those over 65. After that come employees in education, where kindergarten teachers and teachers teaching the first three or five grades of primary school and those over 50 years old will get the vaccine first, Poklukar said.

This group also includes members of parliament, government, the Constitutional Court and other top institutions, who will be vaccinated according to their age.

This group is followed by patients with chronic conditions aged between 18 and 64, and then people aged between 60 and 64. Employees working in critical infrastructure follow, not including taxi drivers, and then the rest of the population.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is registered only for the 18-64 age group, so it is being administered to people from this group regardless of the distribution of other vaccines to other groups.

Choosing which vaccine a person will be vaccinated with is not possible at this point given the limited quantities of the vaccine and the complex logistics involved, Poklukar said.

He noted though that the ministry was signing a contract on 349,000 shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine just today, and that the delivery was expected in the second quarter.

The goal is to have at least 60% of the population or 1.2 million inoculated as soon as possible, the minister said.

The new strategy also allows for storage of vaccines whose registration by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is still pending, the government said after last night's session.

Responding to a journalist question about the prospects of Slovenia potentially buying vaccines alone, Poklukar noted today that the country's buying EMA-approved vaccines alone would be a breach of EU agreements.

According to the government, the main goal of the strategy is to reduce mortality due to Covid-19, prevent cases with complications, disburden the health system and allowing a restarting of economy, education, transport, culture, social life and other activities.

STA, 1 March 2021 - Musicians and event organisers are pushing for the gradual relaunch of public events and the revival of the events sector after several countries already took steps in this direction. They believe now is the time to save the summer season and the sector, and that their proposals should be included in the next stimulus package.

The Coalition of the Music Sector, Trade Union of Slovenian Musicians, the Association of Concert Organisers, the Slovenian Music and Information Centre, and the charity MiDelamoDogodke, said Monday companies and other subjects from the events industry are completely exhausted by the restrictions.

"If we lose another summer, which brings in the most revenue to the events sector with festivals and other mass events, the damage suffered by most stakeholders will be too big for the sector to ever recover again," said the five associations.

They propose that a realistic plan for a gradual relaunch of public events be made in cooperation with the National Institute for Public Health. They would like criteria for relaunching set along with potential dates that event organisers could rely on.

Given the current situation, they believe events could begin on 1 April and be held without restrictions as of 1 July in line with the vaccination plan.

They also propose a guarantee scheme following the example for Austria, Germany and the Netherlands, which plans to lift all restrictions for the events sector on 1 July. Recently, the UK also adopted a plan of gradual reopening of the sector and lifting of restrictions as of 21 June.

The news of the latter prompted many announcements of festivals hosting more than 100,000 people a day, the five organisations said.

STA, 1 March 2021 - Underage secondary school students from the Maribor area who participated in a protest urging return to in-classroom learning in early February have been issued court summons for the purpose of answering charges of violation of the communicable diseases act, the We Demand School (zahtevamo šolo) initiative confirmed for the STA on Monday.

Lars Podkrajšek of the initiative announced resistance against such "intimidation".

According to the information known so far, a total of six underage persons have been summoned.

"They allegedly violated Point 14 of the first paragraph of Article 57 of the communicable diseases act, so the police initiated charges against them before the Maribor District Court. By gathering they are said to have posed considerable threat to public health in Slovenia even though they wore protective face masks and heeded physical distance," Podkrajšek pointed out.

The allegations will be challenged in court, he said, adding that if necessary, the initiative would seek legal recourse before the Constitutional Court.

"We will not let it happen, this intimidation against youth because they wish normal schooling in a way that would be best for them," he said.

The initiative believes that such summons, which were first reported by private broadcaster POP TV over the past weekend, will be issued to more persons since the six students received them on Friday and it is possible others are still on their way.

Similar rallies for return to brick-and-mortar schools were held in a number of other cities in Slovenia, but so far, only Maribor students have been summoned. If there are any others, the initiative urges them to contact the organisation to face the matter together.

Podkrajšek finds such measures unacceptable. He believes there is a trend in Slovenia of sanctioning those who oppose the current government. The summons target those who do not agree with the actions by the Education Ministry, he said, describing Education Minister Simona Kustec as "completely passive".

The initiative will continue to strive for a return of all secondary school students to in-classroom learning as soon as possible. Currently, only final years of secondary school and those attending lower occupational training programmes are allowed to be educated in person apart from primary school pupils.

"Smaller protest actions are in the making which will start to take place in the event the government does not make a decision on Wednesday for all secondary school students to return to school in a week or two," Podkrajšek said.

Violation of Article 57 of the communicable diseases act carries a fine of between EUR 400 and EUR 4,000. If the offence is deemed particularly grave, it could lead to heftier fines up to EUR 12,000.

The Maribor Police Department said that five persons were issued a fine of EUR 400 via mail in connection with the 9 February rally in Maribor. The police also brought charges against four underage individuals before the competent district court.

The police said that some 50 people attended the rally of which nine, holding posters or other objects demonstrating the purpose of the gathering, were ID'd as they violated Article 57/1-14 of the communicable diseases act, which refers to a temporary ban on gatherings.

They were all notified of the offences and those of age were informed the fines will be mailed, whereas the underage participants were told complaints will be initiated against them in line with the law, the police said.

STA, 1 March 2021 - New variants of coronavirus pose a dilemma whether to proceed with the planned colour-coded exit strategy or impose stricter lockdown for a short period of time, PM Janez Janša said in parliament on Monday, as he answered a coalition MP question whether the government was planning any new measures in connection with Covid-19.

He said experts were now checking whether it would be possible to at least partly reopen schools for secondary school students even if Slovenia is still in the orange phase of the epidemic.

Scenarios seeing first, second and third year students going back to school alternately on a daily or weekly basis are being studied, explained Janša, saying that unlike primary school and final-year secondary school kids, these students "have not been at school in person for months".

He said that the government would discuss the possible scenarios on Wednesday or Thursday.

However, a potential fast spread of the new coronavirus variants in the coming weeks could also bring a dilemma of weather to tighten the measures for a short period of time to the level of lockdown, as was the case in Great Britain and the Czech Republic, Janša told the National Assembly.

This is after the first, and so far the only case of the South African coronavirus variant was confirmed in Slovenia on Friday.

Janša said this was not just a scientific but also a political decision "because it entails much severer restrictions, albeit for a shorter period", while the healthcare capacity situation is currently much better than in the past.

"While we are probably closer to the red than orange stage in terms of new infections, we are closer to the yellow than orange stage in terms of healthcare capacities, and it's possible that we'l be able to help some other EU member with these capacities because they are asking for help in the coming two weeks."

Janša at the same time warned the situation could change. In this case "a decision will have to be made whether to opt for much severer restrictions for a short period of time or strike a balance on the brink of capacity of our health system".

Answering a question from the opposition, Janša said the restrictions were less effective in the second wave because people did not take them as seriously as in the first one and because "their violation has been intentionally encouraged".

He also criticised the opposition for opposing certain restrictions, adding that the virus had no political affiliation and spread by its own rules.

The prime minister said the more actively people respected the restrictions, the lower the price, or the milder the restrictions can be.

"But this is not happening," he said, pointing to crowds on ski slopes at the weekend.

Janša also denied Slovenia was the world leader in terms of Covid-19 death toll, saying statistics would have to be looked at and compared once the pandemic was over.

STA, 28 February 2021 - The fitness industry has been severely affected by coronavirus restrictions with last year's loss of income estimated at 75%, said the fitness, recreation and regeneration branch of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) on Sunday, warning about a decline in physical fitness.

Fitness centres were allowed to reopen almost two weeks ago. It is extremely important that access to guided recreational fitness activities is provided for as many people as possible as soon as possible, reads a press release.

"The state has done very little to help the sector," the GZS department said, adding that the role of the industry had been overlooked. Despite assurances from the authorities that aid intended specifically for the sector would be part of legislative stimulus packages, nothing has been done so far, the press release adds.

In 2019, the sector provided recreational activities for some 100,000 users.

"It is key such organised sports activities are no longer restricted in the future. Of course, provided all the prevention protocols are heeded," fitness centres said, warning that a decline in physical fitness recorded in 2020 will have a long-term detrimental effect on psychophysical condition of children and adults.

The results of a study on children's physical fitness published by the Ljubljana Faculty of Sport last year point to the largest drop in physical efficiency among youth since the start of such survey and the sharpest rise in the number of overweight children since 1987.

The GZS branch expects an alarming decline in physical fitness among adults as well, warning that such a crisis means a long-term burden on healthcare and reduced productivity, which further weakens the budget.

STA, 26 February 2021 - As gatherings are banned in the coastal Obalno-Kraška region as of Saturday and travel between this and other regions is restricted to work- and health-related reasons, Interior Minister Aleš Hojs explained that schools will not be closed in the region for the time being. There will also be no ban on travel between municipalities there.

Hojs told the press on Friday that the restrictions were being introduced due to the deteriorating epidemiological situation in the region, but travel would not be restricted to municipal borders.

"As the epidemiological situation in the municipalities of the Obalno-Kraška region is mostly comparable and because only one statistical region has entered the red [tier], we decided to confine movement within the region only," he said.

Several exceptions for the crossing of the regional border will be allowed, but these do not include visits to shops that are not available in the region.

"We know that a part of shops in the region have been closed and this is the exception that people could take advantage of, by saying that they allegedly need to travel to Ljubljana or elsewhere for that reason," the minister stressed.

Travel between the permanent and temporary residence will not be considered as an exception, either. "If you have a permanent residence in Ljubljana, you are in Ljubljana. This ... must not be exploited for going on a vacation or on a trip to the coast."

As for schools, Hojs said that they would remain open in the Obalno-Kraška region, meaning that primary school children and students of the final grade of secondary school would continue to be taught in-person on Monday.

"A decision has been made that school workers, epidemiologists and doctors come up by next Wednesday with a model under which in-person teaching could perhaps be continued, and even all secondary school students return to school, in the red regions."

Elsewhere in the country, gatherings remain restricted to up to ten persons and the 9pm-6am curfew remains in force. Hojs believes that the latter has had a positive impact on the epidemiological situation in Slovenia.

"From the position I hold at the moment, I may assess that the measure has contributed much to the situation starting to improve," he said, assessing that otherwise, the picture would have been much different, mostly because of private parties.

The government is currently taking decisions on restrictions on the regional basis, but if a majority of the regions return to the red tier, it will probably resort again to taking measures at the national level, Hojs added.

STA, 25 February 2021 - Any gatherings are banned in the coastal Obalno-Kraška region from Saturday and travel between this region and others is restricted to work- and health-related reasons, the government decreed at Thursday's correspondence session. The current level of restrictions remains in force in the rest of the country.

The exemptions from the restriction on inter-regional movement in the case of the coastal region include commute to or from work, travel for business purposes, commercial farming and forestry work, or travel required to deal with direct threats to health, life or property.

Travel to or from the coastal region is also allowed to maintain contacts with one's children, to care for or help a person in need or a family member or to access health and spa services and pharmacies if needed.

People visiting foreign diplomatic or consular offices, or accessing emergency services or judicial and administrative services will also be exempt from the ban.

Other exemptions include those seeking services for people with special needs, people seeing to a property, people transiting the coastal region to cross the border or travel to their home region and people who need to perform urgent maintenance work on a grave.

The exceptions also apply to close family members or members of the same household when travelling together.

The region in question

Provided they heed precaution protocols, crossing the borders of the region is also permitted for people with a Covid-19 vaccination certificate, a negative coronavirus test, PCR or rapid, no older than 48 hours, or a document attesting they tested positive more than 21 days but less than six months ago, or a GP's confirmation that the person has recovered from Covid-19 earlier than half a year ago.

The test results are valid if they were produced in EU member states or Schengen countries or by third country organisations or individuals cleared by the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology and National Laboratory of Health, Environment and Food.

In other regions, gatherings of up to ten persons remain permitted. The 9pm-6am curfew remains in force across the country.

STA, 24 February 2021 - The National Public Health Institute (NIJZ) has announced that a total of 25,200 doses of the Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines for Covid-19 are expected in Slovenia on Thursday.

More than 232,000 doses are expected to be delivered in March - 99,450 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, 30,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine and 102,885 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the NIJZ told the STA on Wednesday.

This week, Pfizer already delivered 22,230 doses, and a slightly larger shipment of Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccine is expected tomorrow.

Moderna is expected to deliver 8,400 doses, half of which is to be used for second shots, while AstraZeneca is to deliver 16,800 shots, all of which will go for first shots, the NIJZ said.

As for March, Pfizer is expected to deliver shipments of almost 20,000 doses every Monday. AstraZeneca is to deliver its vaccine in five shipments, the first coming on 4 March, when 3,700 doses are expected.

All the latest data on Slovenia and coronavirus

STA, 22 February 2021 - The Jožef Stefan Institute (IJS) has noted that the Covid-19 epidemic in Slovenia is stagnating in terms of the number of positive tests, with the basic reproduction number standing at around one. It projects that the next, yellow phase of restrictions easing could be reached in mid-May.

One of the criteria for the yellow phase is fewer than 500 patients in hospitals which, given the current trends, the country's prime research institute says could happen this Saturday.

Another criterion is the daily average of newly-confirmed infections in the last seven days below 600. Under the current basic reproduction number, this is to be reached on 13 May.

In the yellow phase, school reopens for all secondary school and university students, student dorms reopen, all remaining services reopen and the 9pm-6am curfew is lifted in the entire country (optionally only for some regions).

The green phase if when the seven-day average of infections drops below 300, as this is the number when epidemiologists will be able to effectively trace contacts to further facilitate the reduction in the number of infections in the general population.

In that phase, all restrictions are lifted for the entire country, while general hygienic measures remain in place, while night clubs and discotheques remain closed.

The IJS also said on Monday that the new, more virulent strain of the novel coronavirus could become dominant at the end of April and the curve could turn upwards again.

The estimated doubling time for the new strain in the current conditions is around 10 days, but uncertainty of this estimate is high, the institute said.

The latest data on coronavirus and Slovenia

STA, 22 February 2021 - Slovenia logged 247 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, three more than the same day a week ago, as eight patients with Covid-19 died. The 7-day average of new cases stayed level at 744, fresh government figures show.

The latest cases were confirmed from 1,428 PCR tests, for a positivity rate of 17.3%. In addition, 8,551 rapid antigen tests were also performed.

The number of patients hospitalised with Covid-19 rose by 18 to 584 after 39 patients were admitted and 13 discharged yesterday. The number of patients in intensive care units rose by two to 104.

For a further easing of coronavirus restrictions, hospitalisations would have to fall below 500 and the 7-day average of new confirmed cases below 600.

The cumulative 14-day incidence per 100,000 residents was at 522 and the 7-day incidence at 248 on Sunday, show data from the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ), released by the government.

Region-wise, the highest incidence remains in the south-western region of Obalno-Kraška, the 14-day figure being at 744 and the 7-day at 400 per 100,000 residents.

Commenting on the situation at the daily press briefing, Health Ministry State Secretary Alenka Forte noted that tourism destinations and shopping centres were very busy at the first weekend since travel across the country was allowed.

She appealed to the public to pick the destinations of their trips wisely and opt for less busy spots and not to become "too relaxed" about precautionary measures.

Forte was "very happy" about the falling hospitalisations and deaths, setting out an exit strategy for hospitals.

"We're currently in the first phase of the exit strategy when hospitalisations fall under 700. Covid bed capacities of all hospitals are reduced to 10% of all bed capacities, except for the Golnik hospital, where the percentage is 15%," she said.

In addition Topolšica and Sežana hospitals are no longer Covid hospitals and have resumed their regular services.

In the second phase, when country-wide Covid-19 hospitalisations fall below 500, the hospitals in Ptuj, Slovenj Gradec, Trbovlje, Brežice and Izola will no longer be Covid hospitals and will resume their regular programme and the Jesenice hospital will close its Covid unit due to renovation.

In the third phase, as Covid hospitalisations fall below 250, only UKC Ljubljana and UKC Maribor, Golnik and the hospitals in Celje, Novo Mesto and Nova Gorica will continue as Covid hospitals.

Only the two medical centres and Golnik clinic will continue to treat Covid patients when their number falls below 100 and if the number is even lower, Golnik will no longer have intensive care beds for Covid patients.

Emergency wards in all hospitals will keep so-called "grey zones" to isolate patients suspected to be infected with coronavirus. If they test positive, the patients will be relocated following the exit strategy.

Slovenia has so far reported 185,013 coronavirus cases, with an estimated 11,014 active infections, data from the NIJZ show.

According to tracker site covid-19.sledilnik.org, a total of 3,784 Covid-19 patients have died.

More than 94,300 people received their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine and nearly 50,000 received both jabs by Sunday.

The latest data on coronavirus and Slovenia