Ljubljana related

14 Jan 2021, 11:49 AM

STA, 13 January 2020 - Some hundred protesters gathered in Republic Square in front of the National Assembly building on Wednesday to air their disagreements with Covid restrictions, including mask-wearing, and vaccine recommendations. A relatively heavy police presence was in force for the protest, which was peaceful and ended in about two hours. 

The police warned the demonstrators that public gatherings were not permitted during the epidemic as a helicopter circled the rally. A perimeter fence was also erected around the parliament building.

The protesters were ID-ed and urged to disperse, but they did not comply with the requests, expressing their disagreement by whistling at police officers.

The protest was not held by organisers of Friday anti-government protests which left an indelible mark in 2020 but were suspended due to the second epidemic wave and are now only evoked by occasional protest actions that heed prevention measures.

The opposition parties have also distanced themselves from today's demonstration, which was announced on social media by the civil initiative Maske Dol (Down with Masks) with its initiator Anica Bidar urging participants to protest peacefully.

Addressing them in Republic Square, she said that "corrupt politics that restricts all the freedom" should be stopped. "We want to be free, healthy, so we spread peace, love and health," she added, announcing a repeat protest.

Another person who encouraged people to attend the protest and was present there was Anis Ličina, who is allegedly one of the main initiators of the violent 5 November demonstrations.

Today's protest saw a number of Slovenian flags as well as banners warning about what the protesters see as dangers of Covid-19 vaccination. Slovenia's anthem was also sung.

The police said ahead of the protest that they were not encroaching on people's rights to assembly and freedom of expression, but given the extreme situation it was key to protect public health and comply with Covid rules.

More than 200 violations established at Wednesday's protest

STA, 14 January 2020 - The police have so far established more than 200 violations of the Covid rules banning public gatherings that were processed at Wednesday's protest by anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers. Data gathered so far show no one was hurt during the demonstration, the Ljubljana Police Department said in a press release on Thursday. 

Coercive measures or the use of force by the police were applied against one person due to failure to comply with police orders.

So far, the police have established 118 violations of the public assembly act, 96 violations of the temporary Covid rules banning assemblies, one violation of the public order act and six violations of the ID act.

Objects that are not permitted at rallies were confiscated in six cases. Procedures have been launched against three persons - the protest's organisers.

The rally, which saw initially some 20 protesters gathering in Republic Square in front of the parliament building around 2pm, was also banned by an administrative decision, the police noted, adding they would continue with their investigation.

Altogether, the demonstration numbered some 100 protesters who oppose Covid restrictions. A relatively heavy police presence was in force for the protest, which was peaceful and ended in about two hours. Police officers IDed the demonstrators as a helicopter circled the rally.

The protest was not held by organisers of Friday anti-government protests, but was announced on social media by the civil initiative Maske Dol (Down with Masks) with its initiator Anica Bidar urging participants to protest peacefully.

Another person who encouraged people to attend the protest and was present there was Anis Ličina, who is allegedly one of the main initiators of the violent 5 November demonstrations.

13 Jan 2021, 21:56 PM

STA, 13 January 2020 - The vast majority of existing coronavirus restrictions will be extended until 22 January, the government decided as it conducted its weekly review of the measures on Wednesday. The only major change is an extension of the formal state of the epidemic by 60 days.

There are very few changes compared to existing restrictions, most of them having to do with the crossing of borders.

Most notably, as of 16 January there is a waiver of quarantine requirement for owners of land on both sides of the border who cross the border to tend to their property.

Passengers crossing into Slovenia must still produce a negative coronavirus test unless they fall within one of the exemptions, and now the validity of the result of rapid antigen tests has been reduced to 24 hours. The results of PCR tests can still be up to 48 hours old.

On the other hand, those who want to cut their quarantine short can now do so by producing a negative rapid antigen test.

The red list of countries from which passengers must quarantine has been extended with the addition of Ireland, which has seen a surge in new cases in recent days.

Most businesses must remain closed, but dry cleaners have now been added to the exemptions. The change takes effect on 16 January.

The formal state of the epidemic will be extended by sixty days from 17 January. The state of epidemic mostly allows for greater involvement of civil protection services in the coronavirus relief effort.

13 Jan 2021, 14:37 PM

STA, 13 January 2020 - Slovenia logged 2,092 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, down nearly 40% on the record daily figure a week ago. A total of 17 patients died, the latest government data show.

This comes from 6,193 PCR tests, of which 28.5% were positive, and 5,750 rapid antigen tests, where the positivity rate was 5.7%.

While infections and cases were down, the number of patients in hospital increased substantially.

There were 1,244 persons in hospital, up 42 over the day before, of which 206 in intensive care, 14 more than the day before.

Slovenia has so far reported nearly 143,700 confirmed cases of coronavirus, corresponding to over 7% of the entire population.

The National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) estimates there are currently almost 24,000 active cases in the country.

A total of 3,070 persons with Covid-19 have died.

Slovenia had a 14-day incidence of 1,130 cases per 100,000 population yesterday, and an average of 1,667 daily cases over the past seven days, according to NIJZ data.

More data on Slovenia and coronavirus

12 Jan 2021, 15:59 PM

STA, 12 January 2020 - Representatives of the hospitality industry have warned that the industry is one of the most affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, and that the government's aid measures do not suffice. They want special treatment in the next legislative stimulus package and a special emergency law that would fully cover wage costs and fixed costs.

Blaž Cvar, head of the Tourism and Catering Section of the Chamber of Craft and Small Business, said in Tuesday's statement that the second Covid-19 wave was much more severe and longer and that the hospitality industry required special treatment.

According to Cvar, the number of unemployed persons in the industry increased by 30% in the last three months, while more than 3,000 establishments closed their doors last year. This requires a special emergency law to be passed.

Together with related associations, the section would like to see such law determine measures in the case that the crisis persists, and an exit strategy, as a significant drop in turnover is expected in the first months after reopening.

Cvar also thinks that the government should start gradually relaxing restrictive measures, including in hospitality, which in the initial phase would mean being allowed to serve meals and drinks outdoors.

In the next legislative stimulus package, the section would like to see loss of turnover to be covered by the government.

It proposes that for each month as of January 2021, establishments receive 70% of the amount of monthly revenue recorded in 2019, the last year when the hospitality industry operated normally.

The section also wants that the current measure of subsidised furlough be extended, and that the state subsidises wages fully, as employers are not able to cover a full gross wage as they have no revenue at all.

It furthermore also wants that universal basic income, like in the spring, is fully covered by the state - EUR 700 plus contributions in full. Otherwise, many employees will not be able to cover basic expenses.

Get the latest data on coronavirus and Slovenia

12 Jan 2021, 14:24 PM

STA, 12 January 2020 - The Alpine resort of Kranjska Gora has seen its official population double during the epidemic as over 2,000 have registered temporary residence, which allows them to invoke one of the exceptions to the ban on crossing municipal borders. While this is legal, local authorities say rules are being bent.

Accommodation capacities are "surprisingly full" and there are a lot of people who are not locals, said Gregor Jarkovič, the head of a municipal inspection service covering Kranjska Gora and two neighbouring municipalities.

The local authorities have discovered that accommodation typically reserved for tourists is being leased out to businesses, which are not covered by the Covid-19 rules that have shut down hotels and other tourism accommodation.

According to Jarkovič, it is very hard for inspectors to verify whether such conduct constitutes an infringement of the rules, which means they cannot sanction potential violators.

"The fact is that we all know what is recommended and what is not. We know it is necessary to refrain from contacts and keep a distance. Any such bending of rules does not contribute to an improvement of the epidemiological situation," he said.

Blaž Veber, the director of Kranjska Gora Tourism, noted that the current rules allowed property owners to lease out to business clients, but since this is poorly defined, it is very difficult to check how such leases are implemented in practice.

"We depend on tourism and place all of our hopes in compliance with the measures and stemming this wave. It seems that this is not the way to achieve that," he said.

Kranjska Gora has near perfect snow conditions and roughly a meter of snow at the moment. While the ski lifts are shut down, social media posts show hundreds hitting the slopes to go sledding at the weekend.

According to current Covid-19 restrictions, outdoor recreation is allowed within the statistical region of residence and in observance of general precautions, but those who have temporary residence in another statistical region may go there as well.

12 Jan 2021, 13:05 PM

STA, 11 January 2020 - The number of deaths in Slovenia in 2020 is expected to be the highest since the Second World War based on data collected so far. The number of excess deaths in 2020 compared to 2019 was 3,153, while compared to the last five years, it was 3,821, show data by the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ).

In 2019, a total of 21,112 deaths were recorded in Slovenia, but last year the figure rose to 24,265. In the last five years, 20,444 persons died a year on average.

Compared to the average of the last five years, there were 3,821 more deaths last year, of which 930 were deaths not related to Covid-19. If only 2019 and 2020 are compared, the number of excess deaths not related to Covid-19 is 262.

"Excess deaths were recorded also in connection to diagnoses and diseases that are not directly linked to Covid-19," NIJZ head Milan Krek told the press today.

According to the preliminary data by the Statistics Office for last year, 20,634 people died between January and the end of November, which is 10% more than in the same period in 2019. A total of 3,059 people died in November 2020 alone, which is 85.5% more than in November 2019.

NIJZ data show that 2,891 people with a confirmed coronavirus infection died last year. Most of the deceased were the elderly from care home.

According to Krek, the data on Covid-19 patients were being collected two ways in Slovenia. The Health Ministry collects the data on the number of deceased Covid-19 patients in hospitals and care homes every morning. The NIJZ, however, collects the data on the bases of those who tested positive to coronavirus, and death certificates and documents on deaths due to contagious diseases.

NIJZ includes in its statistics deaths where an infection was confirmed 28 days before the death.

Since the methodology is different, the data cannot be compared directly, and a unified classification is yet to be set up on a global level, Krek explained. "The procedure is time-consuming, so we cannot report on deaths for individual days."

Among the 2,891 persons with a confirmed infection who died last year, 1,682 were care home residents, which is 58% of the deaths.

"One in ten care home residents died because of Covid-19," he illustrated, adding that 15% of care home residents with the infection had died.

The most deaths where a coronavirus infection was confirmed (603) was recorded in central Slovenia, the region with the most inhabitants, but the number of deaths per 100,000 inhabitants was the highest in the Pomurje region in north-east (268). Koroška follows with 206 deaths per 100,000 people and Podravje with 156.

More than 50% of the deaths with confirmed infection was recorded among those over 85 years of age.

More on this data

11 Jan 2021, 19:01 PM

STA, 11 January 2020 - Mass testing for novel coronavirus with rapid antigen tests for residents of the Ljubljana municipality is being moved from Kodeljevo Arena to the Gospodarsko Razstavišče Exhibition and Convention Centre in the centre of the capital.

As of tomorrow, testing will be conducted at Hall A of on working days from 11am to 3pm, with registrations possible until 1:30pm. Vaccination against Covid-19 will also start at the same location tomorrow.

The testing location has been changed as the new location is more accessible and the venue is larger, as demand is increasing, the Ljubljana Community Health Centre said on Monday.

Vaccination against Covid-19 will be carried out exclusively for persons on priority lists who have expressed their wish to be vaccinated and were invited for vaccination by their personal physicians.

11 Jan 2021, 13:30 PM

STA, 9 January 2020 - Slovenia is to receive 26,000 doses of the newly approved Moderna coronavirus vaccine by the end of February, the Health Ministry said on Saturday. The European Commission and Moderna agreed on the supply of 80 million doses with the possibility of increase by another 80 million doses. Slovenia has the right to 369,767 doses from each supply.

Moderna vaccine was approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on 6 January and its distribution among member states will start next week. It is the second coronavirus vaccine to gain approval in the EU, with Pfizer/BioNTech inoculation campaign running since 27 December.

The US-French pharmaceutical company has informed the European Commission and member states that its production capacities are limited, affecting its supply of the EU market, the Health Ministry said.

While Slovenia is to get 26,000 doses in the first two months of the year, Modern is yet to inform the Commission and member states how many doses it will be able to deliver in March, the Health Ministry said.

It also expressed hope that the company will be able to scale up its production capacities soon and underlined that Slovenia is striving to get as much vaccine as it is eligible to, no matter the price.

The European Commission has moreover called on member states to inform it of their needs for more doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, the ministry said, adding that Slovenia expressed interest for one million additional doses.

Both the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines require two doses to achieve immunity.

Get the latest figures on Slovenia and coronavirus here

10 Jan 2021, 11:29 AM

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 8 January 2021. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here

Mladina: Govt decisions in epidemic politically motivated

STA, 8 January 2020 - The left-wing weekly Mladina argues in its latest commentary entitled For Political Reasons that PM Janez Janša decided to ease some coronavirus restrictions in mid-December for mere political reasons, as the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) was just about to leave the coalition and it became obvious that a motion of no-confidence would be tabled.

It makes very little difference if he decided on the move - which has not only rendered school reopening impossible but also jeopardised the lives and health of the people - to please the head of the Modern Centre Party (SMC), Zdravko Počivalšek, knowing that disobedient coalition MPs will have a harder time crossing to the opposition in a serious crisis.

This does not change the fact that he decided to expose people to risks and increase the burden on medical staff, which are on the verge of collapse, for purely political reasons.

His statement that the government decided to partly lift the restrictions during the holidays after the European Council assessed that the psychological consequences of the restrictions could do more harm than partly relaxing some, and that the government had been aware of the fact that this will have its consequences, is telling.

Firstly, it means he was fully aware of the consequences of his decision, and secondly, he has chosen his words carefully because he knows he is accountable for his decisions.

But the most important thing is that the PM is consciously concealing the truth, because Slovenia did not ease restrictions during the holidays but 10 days before Christmas, when all other countries introduced stricter measures to prevent an escalation during the holidays.

This why in Germany for example, the situation now is not as horrible as in Slovenia.

Janša is also trying to show that this was not his decision but the decision of the European Council. "This is not true. The European Council has made no such decision (debate and decisions are available at www.consilium.europa.eu), and, as previously mentioned, other countries acted differently," Mladina says.

By tailoring the truth like this, Janša has revealed he is aware of the fact that he is walking on thin ice. Data show no mercy. According to Mladina, the PM's actions should be yet another argument why SMC MPs should support a no-confidence motion on 15 January.

Reporter: KUL will persist in attempts to overthrow Janša

STA, 4 January 2020 - While the initial attempt by the informal Constitutional Arch Coalition (KUL) to overthrow the government of Janez Janša may have been unsuccessful, the right-wing weekly Reporter says in its latest commentary that the KUL will probably continue with these attempts until the summer as it has nothing to lose.

Under the headline 2020 Would Not Let Us Out of Its Claws, the right-leaning weekly says that the plan is to convince the MPs of the Modern Centre Party (SMC) to switch to the KUL, but the past moves by its main names do not inspire trust in their political skills.

"The president of the LMŠ and former Prime Minister Marjan Šarec embarrassed himself with the resignation that, instead of early election, led to Janša assuming power. The first prime minister-designate candidate Jože P. Damijan has not been hiding from the very beginning that heading a government is the last thing he wants."

Reporter goes on to note that Luka Mesec, the coordinator of the Left who had been undermining the former coalition that he has supposedly officially supported, should himself be given a lot of credit for Janša's return to the Government Palace.

If the KUL also fails this month, it will only be the first of the battles in the war against Janša because, if the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) president Karl Erjavec is not successful, they will try with a new candidate for prime minister-designate.

"And then perhaps with someone else. They are ready to keep undermining him all the way to the summer and the start of Slovenia's presidency of the European Union? Why not," Reporter says, adding that the KUL parties have nothing to lose with unsuccessful attempts.

On the other hand, if they give up, they risk losing the trust of the part of the electorate that is willing to support them primarily because of their opposition to Janez Janša, and not because they like one of the leaders of these parties.

"It is true that they do not have very promising, respected and competent candidates to challenge Janša, but as the candidacy of Erjavec shows, desperate times call for desperate measures," concludes the commentary.

All our posts in this series are here

09 Jan 2021, 15:36 PM

STA, 9 January 2020 - A number of additional activities deemed essential are permitted to reopen on Saturday. Non-essential shops and services remain closed. Museums and galleries are closed again as of today and sports activities are restricted.

The government extended the shutdown of non-essential shops and services until 15 January at Thursday's session.

Additional activities have been added to the list of exceptions though, including surveying services, cleaning services, medical pedicure and construction works with zero contact with clients.

With the exception of a time window of eased restrictions ahead of New Year's, non-essential shops and services have been closed since 24 October to help stem the epidemic.

Ski resorts, which had to close again on Friday, are available only to professional athletes or in the event of emergencies. As of today, training is also allowed only for top and professional athletes as well as up-and-coming younger athletes.

Sports recreation is permitted only outdoors for individuals or persons from the same household. Travelling to other municipalities within one's region is still allowed for the purposes of exercising.

Another closure of museums and galleries enters into force today as well. Libraries are staying open, however books may be picked up only at outdoor pick-up points.

From today it is also possible to enter Slovenia with a negative PCR or rapid test. Negative results of molecular tests conducted in third countries have been deemed acceptable as well, whereas antigen tests need to have been performed in the EU or Schengen area for the results to be taken into consideration.

Rapid testing that rolled out recently at five border crossings with Croatia to screen post-holiday travellers is no longer available.

The latest data on coronavirus and Slovenia

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