STA, 28 January - The Ministry of Education has notified schools in Zasavje and Obalno-Kraška regions that schools and kindergartens will have to close once again on Monday. The decision comes only two days after pupils of the first three grades and kindergartners were allowed back in nine of Slovenia's 12 administrative regions after more than three months.

The two regions have slipped back into black tier and the government decided on Wednesday that all non-essential services would shut down once again, leaving the decision on schools for today.

The closure comes less than a week after the government decided to allow in-person education for the youngest children and kindergartners, and some additional services to reopen.

Speaking to the press after the government session, Education Minister Simona Kustec said the government also introduced a key change, allowing schools to provide childcare to graders one through three whose parents work in essential infrastructure and security services.

Commenting on the decision to close the schools in the two regions, Kustec said Slovenia has entered a period of constant change and the the government followed closely its epidemic exit plan, under which schools in black-tiered regions are closed.

A number of school heads who will have to switch to remote teaching again next week have expressed regret and disappointment with the decision, with many pointing out that the situation had worsened in their region due to an increase in the number of infections in care homes.

They underlined that the rules of social distancing are being upheld at schools and several have said that their entire staff had tested negative for the coronavirus earlier this week.

Apart from Zasavje and Obalno-Kraška regions, Goriška, Posavska and Southeastern Slovenia are also in black tier.

In black-tiered regions only stores selling mostly groceries are allowed to remain open, as well as some services, such as hair dressers. Kindergartens provide child care only to children whose parents cannot arrange any other form of child care.

Meanwhile, special needs schools remain open also in the black-tiered regions, with staff obligated to get tested once again on Monday.

Exceptions to a ban on gathering in schools remain in place, so as to allow school councillors to provide emergency aid to children and to allow schools to carry out procedures related to completion or continuation of schooling, such as enrolment.

In the seven red-tiered regions, children will remain at home on Monday, as staff will get tested for coronavirus again, Kustec also said.

The National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) has advised the government to prioritise keeping the schools open if the situation deteriorates, closing instead other potential locations of infection transmission.

Bojana Beović, the head of the government's coronavirus advisory group, meanwhile told the press today that they did not have a position on whether it was sensible to close schools again after only a week.

"My personal belief is that it is unpleasant to close schools after only a week and that it would be good to take a look at regions individually," Beović said.

The latest data of coronavirus and Slovenia

STA, 26 January 2021 - Slovenia recorded another 1,652 new coronavirus infections on Monday, when more than 35,000 tests were conducted amid mass testing of teachers ahead of partial school reopening.

Currently, 1,157 people are in hospital, 16 fewer than the day before. The number of patients needing intensive care remained level at 190. 91 patients were discharged from hospital and 27 new deaths were reported.

Yesterday, 1,149 new cases were confirmed in 4,700 PCR tests (positivity rate of 24.4%). Because of testing of teachers ahead of partial reopening of schools and kindergartens, as many as 30,392 rapid tests were also conducted to detect 503 new infections for a positive rate of just 1.7%, said the government's Covid-19 spokesperson Maja Bratuša.

In 20,673 rapid tests among teachers, 278 infections were confirmed by 9pm last night, the Health Ministry said. The positivity rate was thus 1.3%.

Some teachers were tested this morning, as 53,306 pupils from the first three grades of primary school returned to school and 74,630 children returned to kindergartens, according to Education Minister Simona Kustec.

The latest data on Slovenia and coronavirus

STA, 25 January 2020 - Kindergartens and the first three grades of primary school in Slovenia will open as planned on Tuesday despite additional confirmation that the highly virulent UK variant of coronavirus has been present in Slovenia since the start of the month.

After almost three months of closure, the partial reopening was decreed by the government last week, but the plan was thrown into doubt today when Prime Minister Janez Janša told parliament "we still don't know whether classes in schools will really be re-started on Tuesday."

After confirmation that the UK variant is in Slovenia, he solicited opinions from the Education Ministry and the National Public Health Institute (NIJZ), which both said the reopening may proceed. "Let's help teachers to make sure work is safe," Janša tweeted in the afternoon.

The Education Ministry said in its opinion schools were prepared and classes would be safe, while the NIJZ said its position remained unchanged and noted that it would carefully monitor the situation at educational institutions and "propose further measures at any sign of a deteriorating epidemiological situation".

All efforts now need to be invested in managing the epidemic at the national level and making sure the school environment is safe for children and staff. "If restrictions need to be tightened, other potential transmission locations should be closed first," the NIJZ said.

Slovenia conducted mass testing today of all teachers who will return to in-person teaching tomorrow.

STA, 25 January 2020 - Mass testing of teachers and other personnel in education is under way in Slovenia on Monday in the largest such testing operation yet as kindergartens and the first three grades of primary school are set to reopen in nine of Slovenia's 12 regions on Tuesday, with a final decision due in the afternoon.

No major disruption is reported in what is the largest single-day testing for coronavirus so far.

Some kindergarten and school staff are being tested in their institutions or in community health centres, while testing for more than 3,000 employees of kindergartens and primary schools in the capital is organised at the Ljubljana fairgrounds.

Gregor Pečan, the head of the Association of Head Teachers, told the STA that while there were no official responses from his colleagues around the country, while some staff had already expressed their disagreement with the mandatory testing beforehand.

"Procedures are running smoothly, and we have not had a positive case so far," said the head teacher of the primary school in Dol pri Ljubljani for the school in question, where around 90 employees are to return to work tomorrow.

In the Ljubljana municipality, kindergarten and primary school staff are being tested since the early morning, and 3,260 of them are expected to be tested by 8pm.

Around 1,100 persons were tested in the first four hours, and only three infections were confirmed, testing coordinator Uroš Zafošnik of the Ljubljana Community Health Centre told the STA. The testing involving around 50 medical staff runs smoothly as the employees had been assigned precise time slots.

Around 800 teachers and other employees in the 20 primary schools in Maribor will start to be tested in the early afternoon.

"The experiences are different, of course, as some head teachers are reporting certain problems, but these are individual cases," Mojca Kirbiš, a representative of head teachers in Maribor, said.

Helena Ocvirk of the Olga Meglič primary school in Ptuj said that employees had had some reservations about the testing at first, but later accepted the measure as it was mandatory for those who wanted to work with children in-person.

Health Ministry State Secretary Alenka Forte told the press that today's testing was the "largest testing in a single day so far", adding that it was a major organisational and logistic challenge.

According to Forte, no complications with the mass testing with rapid antigen tests have been reported so far.

Testing will have to be repeated every seven days, while the staff who have recovered from Covid-19 and those who had been infected more than three weeks ago need not to be tested.

Around 53,000 primary school pupils and almost 75,000 kindergarten children are expected to return to classrooms tomorrow, after in-person classes for special needs children started three weeks ago.

However, this is still not certain as Prime Minister Janez Janša, speaking in parliament today, put the reopening into doubt, saying that "we still don't know whether classes in schools will really be re-started on Tuesday."

Janša said he expected the opinion from the Education Ministry, the National Public Health Institute and the government Covid-19 advisory team on the matter by 4pm.

The prime minister explained that the issue remained open because of the discovery of the highly transmissible UK coronavirus variant in Slovenia. Studies in the UK show that it spreads fast among children, he added.

STA, 24 January 2021 - The first case of the highly transmissible UK coronavirus variant has been officially confirmed in Slovenia in a Kosovo national with temporary residence in Slovenia who arrived from Belgium, Prime Minister Janez Janša announced on Sunday.

The Kosovo national was in Belgium on company business. He arrived in Slovenia on Saturday and had been tested twice, with one coming back positive and one negative, Janša told a special press conference.

The man appears to have used the negative test to cross the border but was detected after Slovenia received notification from Belgian authorities via a rapid reporting system.

A new test at arrival was positive. The man does not appear to have had contact with other people. "If that is indeed the case, the risk was not big," Janša said.

In addition to the first confirmed case, another two cases of UK coronavirus variant are suspected as a result of the testing of 80 Slovenian samples, said Janša, who added it was possible the UK variant has been in circulation in Slovenia for a while.

The National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) now plans to retroactively check tests from all regions that have come back positive since 11 January, in order to get "a clear enough picture" of the potential prevalence of the UK variant in the country.

This will be done after the health authorities received on Friday special test kits from Slovakia that detect the UK variant.

Janša thanked the Slovak government for providing the kits. He said Slovenia would now order such kits too, but he noted that their availability on the market was limited.

As for the overall epidemiological situation, the prime minister said that it had not been improving as Slovenia hit a new plateau.

While kindergartens and the first three grades of primary school will reopen on Tuesday as scheduled after nearly three months of closure, Janša noted that the situation was prone to change in the event the UK variant becomes more widespread.

"We are facing very demanding times and have very challenging weeks ahead... It is all the more important to comply with all hygienic and precautionary measures," he said.

Unlike some other countries, Slovenia has not yet decided to demand the wearing of better masks in certain situations. Janša nevertheless urged the people to wear surgical or FFP2 masks when possible.

The latest data on COVID and Slovenia

STA, 24 January 2021 - A public opinion poll commissioned by the commercial broadcaster POP TV shows that almost 60% of the respondents would probably or very probably get vaccinated against Covid-19, which is three times more than last October. The share of the respondents opposing vaccination has meanwhile dropped significantly to 25%.

In the poll involving 501 people and conducted by the pollster Mediana, almost 60% of the respondents think that Covid-19 vaccination should be mandatory for employees in community health centres, hospitals and care homes.

More than 50% of the people polled thinks that Covid-19 vaccination should be mandatory for employees in schools and kindergartens, while 13% disagree with this.

Almost 47% of the respondents support the idea to introduce a vaccination passport, while 38% oppose this. Some 22% of the respondents who are against Covid-19 vaccination would get vaccinated if this would enable them to travel.

The latest data on Slovenia and coronavirus

STA, 22 January 2021 - Although testing for the coronavirus is not compulsory, teachers returning to school on Tuesday will have to be tested if they want to teach in person in a classroom, Health Ministry official Vesna Kerstin Petrič explained on Friday. She also said testing for school children could be introduced in the future.

Returning to in-class schooling are primary school children in the first three forms, as well as kindergarten children, in nine of the country's 12 statistical regions with the best epidemiological situation.

Testing for kindergarten and primary school teachers is planned for Monday, and those testing negative will be able to start teaching on Tuesday. In case of a positive test, they will have to self-isolate, Kerstin Petrič, the head of the public health directorate, said at the government's Covid-19 briefing.

Testing will be organised in collaboration between schools and local community health centres, either at health centres or at schools. In case of a great number of teachers to be tested and for schools in remote areas, the ministry will ensure mobile units.

At the same time testing of university teachers will be carried out, as lab sessions will also be relaxed on 26 January. Testing will be available in all the cities where tertiary education is carried out.

Kerstin Petrič said testing of education workers is a key measure recommended by the World Health Organisation, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, as well as by Slovenian institutions. It should be carried out before schools reopen and then periodically at least once a week.

She did not rule out introducing testing for school children. "Testing students is being discussed in entire Europe. Some countries have already launched it. I think it is worth waiting to see what results it brings before we opt for it in Slovenia. But it is highly probable that this will be the next step."

STA, 22 January 2021 - The epidemiological curve continues to flatten in Slovenia, as 1,439 new coronavirus cases were confirmed in 11,149 PCR and rapid tests on Thursday, a slight decrease both on the day before and in weekly comparison. Another 25 deaths were recorded, according to fresh government data.

A total of 1,140 Covid-19 patients were hospitalised, 19 fewer than the day before, while 185 were in intensive care, two more than the day before. 95 patients recovered and were discharged from hospital, the same as the day before, while 25 patients died, two fewer than on Wednesday.

21 persons died in hospitals and four in care homes, said government Covid-19 spokesperson Maja Bratuša. Slovenia's death toll currently stands at 3,309.

Out of the 4,872 PCR tests 22.9% came back positive, while the share of positive tests among the 6,277 rapid tests was 5.2%. The share of positive PCR tests was down compared to Wednesday when it stood at 24.2%, while the positivity rate for rapid tests was up from 4.1% on Wednesday.

Over the last seven days 407 people per 100,000 citizens became infected, which is down from 424 on Wednesday, said Bratuša.

The 14-day incidence per 100,000 residents has fallen to 893, with central Slovenia having the lowest figure for the first time, at 777.

In Ljubljana, 119 new infections were confirmed on Thursday, and 55 in Maribor.

The seven-day average of new daily cases decreased slightly to 1,220, show data released by the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ).

The latest figures bring the total number of confirmed infections in the country since the start of the epidemic to 155,752, according to the NIJZ, which estimates that 18,908 of them are currently active.

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Slovenian contact tracing app upgraded with many new features

STA, 22 January 2021 - The Slovenian Covid-19 contact tracing app on mobile devices, launched by the Public Administration Ministry last summer as a measure to contain the spread of coronavirus, has been upgraded to include many new features, including cross-border exchange of tracing keys.

The upgraded #OstaniZdrav (#StayWell) app is available as of Friday for Android devices, and it is expected to be available for Apple devices in a few days at the latest.

Those who already have the app will need to upgrade it if their devices do not upgrade applications automatically, the ministry said, adding that the new app had many new features.

Minister Boštjan Koritnik, who has himself been infected with coronavirus recently, said that the app was very useful, even though it had turned out in his case that it could not prevent infection.

Among other things, the upgraded version enables cross-border exchange of tracing keys, entry of the date when Covid-19 symptoms appeared and, unlike the original German app, the new intermediate orange level of risk.

Koritnik added that the upgraded app also featured a link to a guide in sign language, while it would also update the situation more frequently - six times in 24 hours, and not only once a day as it has so far.

Also added to the app is a link to the e-Administration portal so that users can acquire quarantine orders, and a link to the online form for getting assigned a 10-digit tracing codes for users who tested positive.

"Epidemiologists are sometimes not able to call in time and provide codes, and this option does not even exist in rapid tests. For this reason codes may from now on be obtained via the shortcut that takes you to the website of the National Public Health Institute," said State Secretary Peter Geršak.

If the positive test is already in the database, users may get a code by SMS after entering their information, he added.

Geršak noted that the cross-border exchange of tracing keys would enable the use of the app abroad without the need to download the national app of the foreign country.

An EU-level server has been established for the exchange of data from the national apps and their back end systems, so that risk levels could be calculated, he added.

The state secretary said that this interoperability feature would be enabled in Slovenia in a week to ten days.

Once they open the app, the users will see only Slovenia in the cross-border section, but the other EU member states participating in the data exchange will be gradually added.

The ministry reiterated that the app alone did not protect people from getting infected with coronavirus, and that it was just another accessory in the fight against the epidemic.

Almost 370,000 owners of mobile devices in Slovenia have so far downloaded the app, which is more than a quarter of the active population in the country, the latest data show.

The ministry noted that not every person who gets infected enters the code in their application, either because they do not receive it, do not know how to enter it, or simply do not want to enter it and inform others about their condition.

STA, 21 January 2021 - Education Minister Simona Kustec presented on Thursday detailed rules for next week's reopening of kindergartens and schools for the first three grades in nine out of the 12 Slovenian regions. She said teachers would have to wear masks at all times, children will have to mask up only outside their classrooms or their bubbles.

Children from one group will form bubbles and will not be in contact with other groups. The size of the groups will be determined by head teachers.

Children will stay in their classrooms during breaks as well and will also eat lunch there. They will use the gym one group at a time.

Pupils who are advised against attending school for health reasons will continue to do schoolwork at home.

The state will provide additional masks to schools and kindergartens that will request this.

Obligatory coronavirus testing for staff will be performed on Monday and in-person classes will start on Tuesday.

Distance learning will remain in place for all other students, and for music schools. At universities, obligatory lab classes will also be allowed.

Prime Minister Janez Janša called for a safe return to schools on Twitter, noting that the government had followed the proposals of experts and the Constitutional Court despite having reservations.

The head of the Association of Head Teachers, Gregor Pečan, told the STA the partial reopening of schools had been expected given the government's criteria for easing restrictive measures. He said schools were familiar with model C of schooling, which will be in place, so he expects no problems.

According to him, the only thing that may be problematic is the testing of the staff, as a large number of people will need to be tested and the testing will be obligatory. "I know that some have reservations for some reason or another although this is a completely non-invasive procedure," he said.

Schools are preparing for the reopening and will start informing parents about this soon, he asserted.

Bojana Verdinek, the principal of the Prežihov Voranc primary school in Ravne na Koroškem, said she had mixed feelings about school reopening. "On the one hand we are looking forward to it, as it is high time, but on the other we are afraid of special restrictions and recommendations, as some of them cannot be implemented at the moment," she said.

In line with yesterday's government decision, all regions bar Posavska, Southeast Slovenia and Goriška will enter the red tier after a steady improvement over the last ten days that brought the number of Covid-19 patients in hospital below 1,200 and the seven-day rolling average of new daily cases below 1,350.

STA, 22 January 2021 - Starting on Friday citizens of Slovenia and other EU and Schengen countries will be able to enter the country without quarantining if they are visiting to perform maintenance work on private property, to provide care or aid or to visit their child.

The government decided to expand the list of quarantine exceptions for travellers from red-listed countries Wednesday evening.

The list of exceptions for EU and Schengen citizens was expanded to allow quarantine-free entry to those providing care or aid to family members or other persons who need help, parents taking care of or visiting their children, those doing maintenance work on private property they own, lease or use in another country, as well as those dealing with threats to health, life or property. They must return no later than 12 hours after leaving Slovenia.

Since last week, owners of land near the border have been able to enter the country without having to quarantine. They must return immediately after completing their work.

All EU and Schengen countries are on Slovenia's red list, which means that persons travelling from there must self-isolate unless they provide a negative test result no older than 24 hours in the case of a rapid antigen test and no older than 48 hours in the case of a PCR test.

The only parts of the EU not on Slovenia's red list are the South-Aegean Islands, Crete, the Ionian Islands and the Greek region of Epirus. The red list also does not contain Norway, with the exception of the administrative units of Oslo, Rogaland, Trondelag and Viken.

The latest data on coronavirus and Slovenia