23 Jan 2022, 15:58 PM

Slovenia Reports 13,111 Positive PCR Tests on Saturday

STA, 23 January 2022 - A new daily record number of coronavirus infection cases was recorded in Slovenia on Saturday as 13,911 PCR tests were positive, with the positivity rate standing at 75.5%, the latest data from the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) show. Total hospitalisations were up slightly, while as many as 18 people with Covid-19 died.

The record comes after similarly high daily numbers were also recorded on Tuesday (more than 12,000) and Wednesday (more than 10,000).

Radio Slovenija reported that the Saturday figures included the results of the samples taken on Thursday and Friday that had come back for Germany, as a certain number of samples are being sent there as Slovenia has reached full capacity.

According to unofficial information, there are certain delays in the reporting of results for samples sent abroad.

The STA is still waiting for comment on that from the National Laboratory of Health, Environment and Food (NLZOH) the Health Ministry.

Some community health centres record an increased number of calls from residents and there are significant delays in obtaining results of swabs from PCR testing by external laboratories.

NIJZ Milan Krek is not surprised by the record daily count. He told Radio Slovenija that the Omicron variant was extremely contagious and that it had many opportunities "given how people behave".

The 7-day average of confirmed infections was up by 1,125 to 10,557, and the two-week incidence per 100,000 population rose by 502 to 5,329.

According to the government, hospitalisations were up by seven to 608 today, while the number of patients in intensive care was down by one to 135.

The youngest hospitalised patient is 20 years old, and the youngest patient in intensive care is 32 years old.

A total of 18 people with Covid-19 died yesterday, which is the highest daily death toll since 18 December.

The estimated number of active infections was up by 10,557 to 112,517, according to the NIJZ.

Get all the latest data on COVID and Slovenia

21 Jan 2022, 16:59 PM

Slovenia Cuts Self-Isolation to 7 Days from Monday

STA, 21 January 2022 - The self-isolation time frame will be cut from at least ten to seven days in Slovenia from Monday, health officials said on Friday. This will apply to most of infected people, provided they will not have fever or any other Covid symptoms 24 hours before the end of self-isolation and will test negative on the seventh day.

Self-isolation will be reduced for all people infected with coronavirus, except for those with weakened immune systems or those with a severe Covid-19 who are in need of hospital treatment, infectologist Janez Tomažič told a Covid press briefing.

If a person will have fever on the sixth day of self-isolation or show any other Covid symptoms, then the self-isolation period will be extended.

Moreover, self-isolation will end after seven days if the person's rapid test comes back negative on the seventh day. The test will have to be performed at an approved testing provider, meaning self-tests will not suffice.

If the rapid antigen test is positive on the seventh day, the person keeps self-isolating and does another test the following day until the tenth day, when self-isolation ends in line with the regime so far.

To ensure that the new protocol is extra safe, the person will have to avoid socialising as much as possible for another three days after they stopped self-isolating, and use FFP2 or surgical face masks.

The updated regime will kick in on Monday and will also apply to those who will have been self-isolating before that day, said Mateja Logar, the head of the government's Covid advisory group.

An agreement with rapid testing providers will soon be made to set time slots for those wanting to get tested to end their self-isolation after seven full days.

For asymptomatic infected people, the self-isolation period starts on the day of the positive PCR test, whereas in the case of people with symptoms and a PCR confirmed infection, the first day of symptoms marks the start, she added.

In accordance with the rules of the European Covid pass, the issuance of a QR code for those who have recovered from Covid is possible from the eleventh day after a positive PCR test, so from the eighth through the tenth day since testing positive, people will not have a valid QR code.

The proposal to reduce self-isolation time was given by experts at the Infectious Diseases Department at the UKC Ljubljana medical centre, and was later endorsed by the advisory group.

This comes after calls for shortening self-isolation by business representatives who have been noting Covid-related staff shortages amid the Omicron wave.

"We know that the Omicron variant is highly infectious and that people who have been vaccinated or who have had Covid-19 are less safe than they were from previous variants. This is why the number of isolations and quarantines is increasing rapidly, crippling healthcare, education, the economy, the entire society," Tomažič said.

"By taking a pragmatic approach to reducing the duration of isolation and quarantine, we're adapting to the wishes to keep society functioning, while at the same time acknowledging the additional risk of human-to-human transmission," he added.

Logar meanwhile reiterated the distinction between self-isolation and quarantine, explaining that the former was to separate people who are ill with a contagious disease from people who are not ill, whereas the latter was to separate and restrict the movement of people who were exposed to a contagious disease to see if they become ill or not.

Despite the slightly milder Covid-19 in most people infected with Omicron, the huge increase in infections could lead to an increase in the number of patients in the coming weeks, Logar warned.

Moreover, the high number of self-isolations and quarantines in the younger population could lead to problems in the functioning of public services and critical infrastructure. The advisory group is therefore not yet considering relaxing measures.

So far, self-isolation time has been at least ten days depending on the course of the disease.

19 Jan 2022, 13:07 PM

New Exceptions to Quarantine, PCR Testing Rules Start Today, 19 January

STA, 19 January 2022 - New quarantine rules kicked in today for schools and staff at health care and social care institutions, and some changes apply to the protocol of PCR testing as daily numbers of coronavirus infections continue to break records.

The healthcare, social care and education staff are from now on exempt from quarantine if they had a high-risk contact, although they will have to get tested every day for seven consecutive days with a rapid antigen test and use a FFP2 face mask at work.

Similarly, kindergarten kids, primary and secondary school children and university students will have to get tested with rapid tests for seven days if they were in contact with an infected person at school.

Under the new rules, an entire class will be sent into quarantine only if the share of infected children in it reaches 30% in a two-week period.

The rules for the PCR protocol also changed today as labs are being overwhelmed with huge numbers of tests.

From now on, persons who have no Covid-19 symptoms do a rapid test or self-test, and if it is positive, they also undergo a PCR test.

Persons with a respiratory infection are meanwhile divided into two groups.

The first group - persons suffering from chronic diseases, those with a compromised immune system, pregnant women and children - must call their GP to refer them a PCR test.

The second group are all the other persons with symptoms of a respiratory infection. They will have to do a rapid test or self-test. If it is positive, they will also have to take a PCR test.

If the rapid test result is negative, the person with respiratory infection symptoms must nevertheless self-isolate up to three days.

If the symptoms persist beyond three days, they must call their GP to get an appointment for a PCR test. If the test is positive, they have to isolate for ten days. If the symptoms disappear in three days, the person is not considered to be infected.

19 Jan 2022, 13:04 PM

36 People in Šentjur Accidentally Given Saline Instead of COVID Vaccine

STA, 18 January 2022 - Out of 126 persons who were vaccinated for Covid-19 in the Šentjur Community Health Centre last Friday, 36 were mistakenly given a shot of saline solution that had been put in empty vials.

All 36 persons were contacted, with 34 responding immediately, and the remaining two persons, who had not been reachable at first, being informed about the mistake later.

All of them have subsequently received shots of the Pfizer vaccine, except one person, who will be vaccinated next week.

The Šentjur Community Health Centre said on its website on Tuesday that 30 of these persons had received proper shots on the same day, four persons on Saturday and one on Monday.

The centre said that the correctness of the procedure was checked periodically during vaccination by comparing the number of used vials with the number of vaccinated persons.

It was established during a regular check that 36 people were vaccinated only with saline from a total of six vials, and a correction was immediately made in the central register of patients for those who did not respond to the call on Friday.

The error was also reported to the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ), the centre said, adding that apologies were sent to all affected persons with an explanation of what had happened.

"We are very grateful to all persons involved for accepting this with understanding and immediately responding to repeated vaccination," said the community health centre from the town east of Celje.

17 Jan 2022, 12:29 PM

UPDATED: New Quarantine Rules Start Wednesday, 19 January

STA, 17 January 2022 - UPDATED 21:30 Employees in health, social affairs and education as well as students will be exempted from quarantine under certain conditions as of Wednesday. Entire classes will be quarantined only if more than 30% of students are infected in the span of 14 days, the government decided at a correspondence session on Monday.

Under the new quarantine rules, revised at the initiative of the public health authorities, staff in health, social affairs and education will be also exempted from quarantine in the event of high-risk contact provided they test for coronavirus daily for a week and use a FFP2 face mask in the workplace.

If these essential workers have been in close contact with someone who tested positive for coronavirus outside work, they must inform their employer about this and observe the same course of protective measures.

The same exemption will apply to pupils in primary school and students in secondary school or university who have been in contact with someone with Covid-19 in their educational environment - as long as they do daily rapid tests for a week while in school, but they will not be required to wear a FFP2 mask.

The only ones who will still be required to self-isolate are those who test positive.

Entire classes will be quarantined only if more than 30% of students of a single class test positive over the span of 14 days. This will also be the case in kindergartens.

The ongoing quarantine orders that have been issued or will have been issued before Wednesday will still have to be heeded according to the previous regime, Health Minister Janez Poklukar told a press conference after the government session.

The new quarantine exemptions come after concerns have been raised in schools and other institutions over either quarantine-related staff shortages or the number of classes switching to distance learning.

They add to the existing exemptions that have been in place since 10 January: people who have received a booster shot of a coronavirus vaccine, those who have been fully immunised and have recovered from Covid-19 or those who have recovered from the disease at least ten days ago and no longer than 45 days ago.

The latter exemptions have superiority over the new ones, Poklukar said, meaning, for example, that a teacher who has been jabbed with a booster will not be required to test daily for a week to be exempted from quarantine.

According to the latest data from the national tracker Covid-19 Sledilnik, which cites information from the Education Ministry, 31,735 primary school pupils or some 16% and 12,035 secondary school students or roughly 16% were quarantined on Friday due to high-risk contact.

The government also amended today a decree on exceptions to the Covid pass mandate under which under-12s do not have to comply with the recovered-vaccinated-tested (PCT) rule.

The total of rapid antigen tests per month that are provided to pupils has increased to 20 in line with the new rules.

Presenting the updated rules, Slovenia's chief epidemiologist Mario Fafangel pointed out that more than 40,000 quarantines were ordered per week in the country, which put a lot of pressure on the system.

Epidemiologists agreed to the exemptions for some critical infrastructure sectors, as the large number of quarantines makes it very difficult to operate.

"Amending the quarantine rules at this point obviously increases the risk, but failing to ensure the functioning of critical infrastructure also poses a risk to people's health," Fafangel said.

12 Jan 2022, 15:49 PM

10% of Primary, 16% of Secondary Pupils Self-Isolating

STA, 12 January 2022 - One out of ten primary school children and 16% of all secondary students are self-isolating with a total of 1,431 classes being taught remotely due to coronavirus infections as of Tuesday, Education Ministry data available on the tracker site covid-19.sledilnik.org shows.

As many as 936 classes at primaries and 495 classes at secondary schools were quarantining on Tuesday, the total number being three times that of the figure before Christmas holidays.

A total of 19,651 primary pupils and 12,808 secondary students were isolating on Tuesday.

Only at primaries 1,068 infections were confirmed in pupils and an additional 406 in staff. At secondary schools, where the vaccination rate is higher, 379 infections were confirmed among students and 84 among staff.

At kindergartens, 171 classes numbering a total of 2,446 kids were isolating. On Tuesday, 74 infections were confirmed in kindergarten children and 235 in kindergarten staff.

Before Christmas holidays, as of 23 December, 372 primary and 52 secondary school classes were quarantined.

Gregor Pečan, the head of the Headteachers of Primary and Music Schools, said the situation was getting critical, suggesting for winter holidays to be moved forward to coincide with the peak of the 5th wave.

Pečan's school saw three teachers sent into quarantine only on Tuesday. "If that happens in two more classes, we can shut down years 5 to 9 because there will be no staff to give lessons," he told the STA.

He says the main problem is the new rule under which the teacher is ordered to self-isolate if they were in the same classroom with an infected pupil for 15 minutes, up from the previous rule of 45 minutes.

Since epidemiologists expect the 5th wave of infections to culminate in two weeks, Pečan suggested considering moving winter school holidays from the end of February to the end of January.

Radio Slovenija has reported the Ljubljana Secondary School for Pharmacy shifted fully to remote classes on Monday and the Ljubljana Secondary School of Economics is moving online on Thursday.

Nives Počkar, the head of the Association of Secondary School Teachers, also told the radio further schools would have to be closed due to infections and quarantine orders.

Slovenia reported a record 7,420 coronavirus infections for Tuesday.

12 Jan 2022, 14:32 PM

New Record of 7,420 New COVID Cases, Fall in Hospital Numbers

STA, 12 January 2022 - A total of 7,420 coronavirus infections were recorded in Slovenia on Tuesday in what is by far the record daily number since the start of the epidemic. The positivity rate again exceeded 50%, data released by the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) on Wednesday shows. 13 Covid patients died, up 10 on the day before.

The notable daily rise of more than 2,200 cases comes a day after the number of confirmed infections exceeded 5,000 for the first time since March 2020.

The 7-day average of daily cases was up by 476 to 4,367 and the 14-day incidence per 100,000 people increased by 263 to 2,142.

According to the NIJZ, a total of 45,459 people are estimated to be actively infected, up by some 5,550 compared to yesterday's estimate.

Government data show that there are now 538 Covid patients in hospital, a daily drop of 15, of whom 154 are in intensive care, down six.

A total of 57% of Slovenia's population (or 1,197,788 people) have been fully vaccinated against Covid, with the share for adults (aged at least 18) at 67%. A booster shot has meanwhile been administered to 516,729 people.

Get the latest data on COVID and Slovenia, with lots of visualisations

11 Jan 2022, 11:25 AM

Slovenia’s COVID-Related Spending 40% Higher in 2021 Compared to 2020 (Feature)

STA, 11 January 2022 - While the cost for the state for tackling the Covid-19 epidemic in 2020 amounted to EUR 2 billion, expenditure only grew in 2021 by a further EUR 800 million. In 2020, the state spent the most money on preserving jobs and providing liquidity to companies, and last year expenditure was dominated by bonuses for public sector employees.

The direct cost of the epidemic-related measures from the spring of 2020 to the end of 2021 amounted to EUR 4.8 billion, as another EUR 2.8 billion was added to the cost last year.

The first package of measures was adopted by the National Assembly at the end of March 2020, followed by eight anti-coronavirus laws and an emergency law to assist the tourism sector and related industries in July last year.

Just before the start of 2022, another emergency law was passed in parliament, introducing some new bonuses and compensations in the event of complications related to vaccination against Covid-19.

In order to prevent lay-offs in companies in the face of declining revenue and restrictions of business, the government started taking a number of measures to preserve jobs immediately after the epidemic was declared almost two years ago.

EUR 1.1 billion in such measures was paid to companies in 2020, which is more than half of the total expenditure in the first year of the epidemic, and an additional EUR 633 million was paid last year.

The best received by employees was the measure of subsidised furlough, which expired at the end of last June, while employers also had the measure of subsidised part-time work at their disposal until the end of last September.

The state will also cover for the costs of wages related to quarantine or force majeure related to the epidemic until the end of February this year, if the measure is not extended.

The state also financed the universal monthly basic income for the self-employed and other eligible groups in the first wave of the epidemic and again in the second wave until the end of last June, with EUR 238 million paid last out year for this purpose.

A total of EUR 630 million was spent in 2021 for job-preserving measures, which is almost 50% less than in 2020. This is due to business being restricted for a longer period in 2020 than last year, and partly due to the quicker economic recovery.

Measures for maintaining liquidity were also available to companies, including deferral of taxes or payment of taxes in instalments, a loan guarantee scheme and reimbursement of fixed costs.

The latter measure was implemented at the beginning of last year retroactively for as of September 2020 and has so far cost the state EUR 309 million.

The amount of paid bonuses to employees under the anti-coronavirus legislation adopted so far increased sharply last year in comparison to 2020 - from EUR 204 million to EUR 822 million.

The largest amount, EUR 745 million, was earmarked for bonuses for work in hazardous conditions under the collective agreement for the public sector, which amount to 65% of the hourly rate of the basic salary of public sector employee.

The largest amount of such bonuses was paid to employees in public institutions owned by municipalities, followed by healthcare employees.

The state also spent more money last year for other costs related to the management of the epidemic, including costs of protective equipment, tests and research. These costs amounted to EUR 385 million or almost three times more than in 2020.

Also included in the anti-coronavirus legislation were bonuses for various social groups aimed at maintaining consumption and improving their social situation. EUR 287 million was provided for these measures last year, which is on a par with 2020.

Another EUR 630 million has been secured in the 2022 budget for anti-coronavirus measures. This is not the final figure, as the amount could be increased depending on the pace of vaccination and the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

11 Jan 2022, 11:11 AM

New Vaccination Campaign Launched as Omicron Wave Grows

STA, 10 January 2021 - Health Minister Janez Poklukar announced a new vaccination campaign for later this week as the country braces for a surge in the Omicron-driven wave of infections and potential disruption after the new extremely infectious variant has prevailed.

"Omicron has practically supplanted Delta in a good fortnight. It no longer makes sense counting the cases as all confirmed cases are likely infected with the Omicron variant," Poklukar told reporters on Monday.

Slovenia reported a record 5,164 new cases of coronavirus for Monday, the highest daily figure since the start of the pandemic. The case positivity rate exceeded 50%, according to the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ).

He said microbiologists and virologists had not yet seen such rapid replacement by a more virulent variant, warning the country would be put to organisational challenges in the coming weeks as the virus "floods the population".

He repeated that the best defence against Omicron and hospitalisation is vaccination, noting that 73% of the 572 patients currently hospitalised with Covid-19 and 85% of the 157 in intensive care were unvaccinated. He also noted the risk of long Covid.

"We're entering the 5th wave with a low vaccination rate, overstretched hospitals and exhausted staff," he said.

In a bid to get as many people as possible vaccinated with first, second and booster jabs, vaccination centres will be again open from 8am to 8pm between Thursday and Saturday with no prior appointments required.

Like in the similar campaign ahead of Christmas, the effort will be joined by public and private health care providers, dentists, local communities, civil protection and the Red Cross.

The new vaccination campaign comes before the Covid pass becomes limited to 9 months starting from 1 February, so the minister urged people to take up the invitation to avoid crowds at the end of the month.

Franc Strle, an expert on internal medicine and infectious diseases, said vaccination was not expected to "convincingly reduce the spread of the virus, but it will convincingly reduce the share of those who will need treatment in hospital".

According to Poklukar, nine patients with Omicron are being treated in hospitals with at least four of them requiring hospitalisation due to other conditions than Covid-19.

Vaccination is also recommended to those who have recovered from Covid-19 with the National Advisory Committee on Immunisation advising a jab within one to six months after recovery and within three to six months for the vaccinated recovered.

The fully vaccinated who have not had Covid yet are now advised to get a booster after a three-month break following the full inoculation.

Data from the National Institute of Public Health shows 57% of Slovenia's population has been fully vaccinated and 59% have had their first shot. Almost 505,000 have had boosters, according to the government.

Asked about the cost of testing, Poklukar said rapid tests would likely be made self-paid following the peak of the fifth wave. "The concept proposed will be the one we had before the fourth wave when the rapid tests were payable [...] save for exemptions."

Rapid and PCR tests have so far cost the state almost EUR 160 million, money that could be spent on investment in healthcare. The minister noted the planned new department of infectious diseases at UKC Ljubljana would come at the cost of EUR 100 million to the state budget.

10 Jan 2022, 18:37 PM

Cross-Country World Cup in Planica Cancelled Due to Covid, 22, 23 January

STA, 10 January 2022 - The organising committee for the FIS Cross-Country World Cup events scheduled to take place in the Planica Nordic Centre in Slovenia on 22 and 23 January has cancelled the competition, citing the steep rise in coronavirus infections in the country as the reason.

The venue in north-western Slovenia was scheduled to host the men's and women's classical sprint on 22 January and the men's 30km and women's 15km skiathlon on 23 January.

The Planica organising committee said on Monday that the decision to cancel the events had been made in cooperation with all partners as the number of infections with Covid-19 continues to rise steeply.

The decision comes as the snow conditions in the Planica Centre are ideal and the venue and accompanying infrastructure is undergoing final preparations.

With the dates for the events being close to the start of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, some of the foreign teams said that their appearance in Planica was questionable or decided to register members of their B teams for the events.

The organising committee noted the "critical epidemiological situation in Slovenia and Europe" and the "sharp rise in Covid-19 infections and projections of an additional increase in the coming days".

It added that this made it even more difficult to provide a safe environment for the competitors and staff and that, according to experts, it was not possible to provide sufficient protection at such a large event.

"The epidemiological situation is bad and we are trying to maintain the functioning of critical infrastructure, so we advise against events that pose additional risk," said epidemiologist Irena Grmek Košnik, the Covid-19 coordinator in the committee.

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