STA, 4 December 2020 - A record daily number of Covid-19 deaths in Slovenia has been reported for Thursday as 61 patients died. 1,784 new coronavirus infections were detected in 6,853 tests for a positivity rate of 26.3%, which is slightly lower than the day before.

A total of 1,284 persons were in hospital yesterday for Covid-19, as 123 patients were admitted and 86 were discharged from hospital, government spokesman Jelko Kacin tweeted on Friday.

Intensive care was being provided to 197 patients, which is one fewer than on Wednesday.

The average number of new infections in the past seven days per 100,000 residents currently stands at 1,487.

Meanwhile, the rolling 14-day average per 100,000 residents is at 968, according to national tracker Covid-19 Sledilnik.

The data for Thursday show that none of the requirements for easing restrictions as set out in the government's five-tier strategy had been met, Kacin said.

Slovenia will start relaxing the restrictions when the seven-day average of daily infections is under 1,350 infections and there are fewer than 1,200 Covid-19 patients in hospital.

With the record daily number of deaths on Thursday, the total death toll has climbed to 1,653.

According to some global tracking sites, Slovenia currently has the highest Covid-19 mortality rate in the world.

The New York Times tracker showed Slovenia today as the worst performer in the world, with a daily average of 2.4 Covid deaths per 100,000 people over the last seven days, ahead of Bulgaria (2) and Hungary (1.6).

The figures are the same in the Our World in Data tracker, just calculated as deaths per million inhabitants.

Moreover, since mid-October Slovenia has been recording a large share of excess deaths, the national tracker data show.

Taking into account the average of the past five years, the week between 9 and 15 November saw an increase by 81%. The number of Covid-19-related deaths also surged during that period.

A total of 730 persons died that week, which compares to 416 in the same period in 2019 and 404 in 2018.

During the first epidemic wave in spring, excess mortality did not fluctuate significantly compared to the five-year average, however in the second wave, the excess death figure has been rising since 12 October.

Slovenia Adopts 5-Level Approach to Easing Covid Restrictions

The week that followed that day saw an increase by 16% and the upward trend only accelerated in the following weeks.

The last week that has been so far analysed is the period between 16 and 22 November when excess mortality increased by 74%.

The data indicate that the excess death growth correlates with the increasing number of Covid-19 deaths. The latter figure is somewhat lower than the first though.

The tracker notes that not all Covid-19 deaths have already been registered as such. Moreover, a part of the excess death share could be deaths caused by the ramifications of anti-coronavirus measures, for example, restricted access to health services.

Covid-19 Sledilnik has also said that more detailed assessments will be possible long after the second wave ends and when there will be more comprehensive data.

However, current excess mortality in Slovenia is similar to the figures in those countries that were worst off in the first wave, the tracker warned.

Slovenia has so far recorded 81,349 cases, including 20,288 which are currently active, according to the national tracker data.

All our stories on Slovenia and COVID-19

STA, 3 December 2020 - The government extended the validity of tourism vouchers until the end of 2021 on Thursday. Announcing the move, government spokesman Jelko Kacin said that the decision aimed to help the tourism sector, which has been badly hit by the epidemic.

Tourism vouchers were introduced as part of the third stimulus package, which was passed in parliament in late May.

They were given to all Slovenian residents - adults received a voucher of EUR 200 and minors EUR 50. The vouchers could be redeemed only in exchange for accommodation services.

The measure kicked in on 19 June and was available until the closure of all accommodation facilities during the autumn lockdown in late October.

The government first set down that the vouchers would be valid until the end of 2020, however already prior to the closure of hotels it acknowledged the possibility of extending the validity period.

The Financial Administration (FURS) data show that by 1 October some 883,100 vouchers worth EUR 113,74 million were redeemed.

Over two million persons received the vouchers, with the total value of the measure being EUR 356.9 million.

Holiday vouchers saved the summer tourism season in various places, particularly on the coast, in mountain resorts and spas.

On the other hand, the measure barely had an impact on the situation of accommodation providers in cities, and certain other destinations more popular among foreign tourists.

STA, 3 December 2020 - The Constitutional Court has established that the temporary measures banning the gathering of people at educational establishments were extended with invalid government decisions. This means there is currently no legal basis for distance learning.

The court held that the decisions taken by the government and the education minister to extend the school closure are not valid.

It says it is aware the epidemiological situation in the country might not yet allow for people gathering at schools in such great numbers and that their reopening could require certain guidelines and organisations adjustments.

It therefore decided that its decision would enter into force three days after being published today in the Official Gazette, giving the government more time to act.

The court says the three-day window should give decision-makers enough time to reconsider whether such measures are indeed based on expertise and act adequately to potentially arrange what is needed to go back to in-person learning at schools.

The court is aware that the government could again decide to keep schools closed.

But it adds that given the current situation, conditions are met for temporary injunction on a government decision to close special needs schools.

The court had in effect ruled several months ago that government decisions regarding restrictive measures cannot be open-ended, which is why it ordered it to review them periodically, which is what the government has been doing.

Now, it held that by simply extending the measures without publishing formal decisions to that effect, its decisions are invalid.

Given that this is how most existing measures are extended, this may affect all restrictions.

The court was petitioned to deliberate on school closure by legal representatives of two special needs primary school pupils.

The judges took the decision in a 7:1 vote. Voting against was Klemen Jaklič, who announced a dissenting opinion.

STA, 3 December 2020 - The government adopted on Thursday a five-tier strategy for the relaxation of coronavirus restrictions based on a proposal by the Health Ministry and the coronavirus task force, Prime Minister Janez Janša announced on Twitter.

"Healthcare is operating at the extreme limit of capacity and it is only by working together and responsibly that we can reduce the burden," Janša said.

The relaxation of measures will hinge on the seven-day rolling average of daily infections and the number of Covid-patients in hospital.

The existing measures will remain in place as long as there are over 1,350 daily infections on average and more than 1,200 people in hospital. This is designated as the black tier.

A total of 6,604 tests for the new coronavirus were conducted in Slovenia on Wednesday, resulting in 1,772 new positive cases. The number of cases is down compared to Tuesday, as is the positivity rate and the number of patients who died of Covid-19. Hospitalisations are meanwhile slightly up.

Na predlog @MinZdravje in svetovalne strokovne skupine je @vladaRS določila kriterije za odpravo omejitvenih ukrepov za različne faze umirjanja epidemije #COVID19. Zdravstvo deluje na skrajni meji zmogljivosti in le skupaj in z odgovornim ravnanjem lahko zmanjšamo obremenitve. pic.twitter.com/6kyflG7Amb

— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) December 3, 2020

Slovenia will enter the red tier when there are under 1,350 infections and fewer than 1,200 people in hospital, at which point limited public transport will re-start and museums, libraries, galleries, hairdressers, and manicure and pedicure establishments will be allowed to reopen.

Initially, public transportation will operate on a holiday schedule, according to Aleš Mihelič, a state secretary at the Ministry of Infrastructure.

In the orange tier, defined as under 1,000 daily infections and under 1,000 patients in hospital, services activities, stores, kindergartens and the first three grades of primary school plus schools for special needs children will reopen.

Outdoor sports activities, including skiing, would be allowed, gatherings would be capped at 10 persons, and the ban on inter-municipal travel would be lifted in all regions that achieve these figures.

In the yellow phase (fewer than 600 daily cases and under 500 people in hospital) primary schools would reopen and final-year students at secondary schools would return to classrooms. The night curfew and inter-municipal ban would be lifted nation-wide.

In the green phase - when the number of daily infections is under 300 - all restrictions are lifted while general hygienic precautions remain in place. Bars and night clubs would however remain closed.

The seven-day rolling average of daily infections was at 1,461 yesterday and 1,289 Covid-19 patients were in hospital.

Health Minister Tomaž Gantar said the satisfaction of either condition - new cases or hospital figures - will suffice for the shift between tiers. He indicated the transition to the red tier may be achievable in the coming days.

"We cannot relax [the restrictions] until we know reliably that we can provide a sufficient number of beds for the system to work... This is the main limiting factor."

The exit strategy in effect means that all existing restrictions have been extended as part of the government's periodic check of the measures.

Slovenia has been in its second lockdown since mid-October and several measures have been tightened since then.

All our stories on coronavirus and Slovenia

STA, 2 December 2020 - Slovenia recorded 2,429 new coronavirus cases for Tuesday, the third highest daily increase in infections since the start of the epidemic, as the test positivity rate hit 33.8%, and 57 more patients with Covid-19 died, according to government data. The overall death toll has passed 1,500.

Tuesday is typically the day of the week that sees the highest number of cases, peaking at 2,611 on 27 October, with 2,492 confirmed the following day.

The latest cases come from 7,178 tests, fewer than the record 8,063 conducted a week ago when 2,226 cases were confirmed for a test positivity rate 27.6%. The rate stood at 22% this Monday, as 1,292 infections were confirmed.

According to Nuška Čakš Jager from the National Institute of Public Health, today's increase in the number of new infections may be attributed to the introduction of rapid tests. Positive test are double-checked with PCR tests.

Addressing the daily government press briefing, she said as care homes were introducing rapid tests this would reflect on the number of cases detested there.

The number of patients hospitalised with Covid-19 dropped by 14 from the day before to 1,285 after 88 patients were discharged home yesterday, 114 were newly admitted while the rest died. The number of patients in intensive case dropped by 11 to 199.

With 57 more fatalities, Slovenia's death toll among patients with Covid has reached 1,547.

In the last two weeks, Slovenia recorded 981 infections per 100,000 people. Since the start of the outbreak, a total of 79,563 infections have been confirmed.

There are currently 20,569 active infections in the country. The regional situation is similar as last week, with some improvement in the northern Gorenjska region.

Government spokesperson Jelko Kacin, speaking at the press briefing today, said that the new hotspots are Krško with 97 infections, Slovenska Bistrica with 73, Novo Mesto with 77, and Koper with 66. In Ljubljana 219 new infections were recorded, and 165 in Maribor.

All our stories on Slovenia and coronavirus

STA, 1 December 2020 - A total of 1,292 coronavirus cases were confirmed in 5,868 tests on Monday and 55 persons with Covid-19 died, the second highest daily death toll since the start of the epidemic, show the latest government data.

The number of new cases is slightly lower than a week ago and the positivity rate, at 22%, follows a gradual downward trajectory recorded in recent days.

Hospital numbers remain high, with 1,299 patients in hospital, one more than the day before, of which 210 in intensive care, up by five in a day.

Jelko Kacin, the government's Covid-19 spokesman, told the daily press briefing that the epidemic was not yet easing off.

"If we all stick to the measures, the epidemiological situation will improve ... and the pressure on hospitals will relax so that we can start gradually easing restrictions in a controlled manner," he said.

In recent weeks roughly a fifth of new cases have been in nursing homes, and the trend continues. Kacin said 201 residents and 42 staff were among the new cases yesterday.

Since July 2,587 residents and 1,226 employees at nursing homes have recovered from infection.

The latest figure bring the death toll from the epidemic to 1,490. The number of all registered coronavirus cases has reached 77,106.

There are just over 20,000 active cases in the country, a figure that has remained broadly unchanged since mid-November. The 14-day rolling average of new cases per 100,000 inhabitants is at 961, down slightly from the day before.

All our stories about Slovenia and coronavirus

STA, 30 November 2020 - Some 10% of Slovenian residents visited two households in a week in November despite anti-coronavirus restrictions. Moreover, a certain share of Slovenians do not seem to have significantly changed their social habits when it comes to visiting other homes, a survey by pollster Valicon shows.

Slovenia recorded 428 new coronavirus cases from 1,880 tests on Sunday as the positivity rate dropped to 22.77% from over 30% the day before. Government data show 51 more patients with Covid-19 have died, taking the overall death toll to 1,435.

More than half of the respondents of the survey, conducted in the second week of November among 527 adults, said they were not visiting other households at all and over 25% made one social visit in the previous week.

Some 6% visited from three to four households, and 4% paid a visit to five or even more households.

Given that the average size of Slovenian households is 2.5 members, some 10% were thus in contact with more than an average 10 persons in a week.

The survey examined behavioural patterns amid the epidemic, however it did not look into the reasons for specific conduct.

Experts presume that those who visited one household called on their family members living in other households or went to see them to help.

What is alarming is that a group of those who reported about two or more visits a week, about 100 respondents, also included the highest number of people with Covid-19 symptoms. A total of 23% from this group mentioned two or more such symptoms.

This category also had the most responses, some 14%, revealing high-risk contacts in the previous two weeks.

The survey was part of a joint project run by national tracker Covid-19 Sledilnik, the Young Doctors association, and Valicon, which also yielded results regarding behavioural patterns at work some 10 days ago.

The project's partners note that the share of those who have not significantly reduced the number of visits may not seem high, but 10% in the study translates to some 200,000 of the population. Moreover, a similar share merely restricted their social life to visits to two households.

Summing up findings of both surveys, the project indicates that some 36% neither go to work nor visit other households while their conduct has been proven to be the safest.

This group features pensioners, hence a larger share of those aged above 60, as well as the biggest share of those quite worried due to the epidemic (almost 25%) compared to other groups, and the biggest share of those concerned for their health (38%). Most are dealing with the situation quite well, only a tenth find it critical or even hopeless.

Some 17% go to work, but do not pay visits. Most of them are men aged between 30 and 59. The group features the smallest number of those concerned due to the epidemic, 13%, and a third of those who are anxious about their health. In this group, people are also mostly coping with the situation.

About 30% do not go to work but go on visits. Women aged between 18 and 29 are a prominent category in the group, as well as those on sick leave and those who have lost their job due to the epidemic.

The group has the largest share, 30%, of those who are not or only slightly worried about the virus, but also the biggest share, 20%, of those who regard the current circumstances as critical or hopeless.

The remaining group poses the highest risk for contracting or spreading the coronavirus, comprising those who both go to work and have a social life (17%).

Most of them visited at least one household and performed at least half of their workload in the workplace.

A fifth of the group are parents of pre-school children, a somewhat bigger share than in other groups, meaning the reason for some visits could be daycare. The group features prominently middle-aged men. The share of those who are worried due to the epidemic is the same as in the group of people going to work but not on visits.

Valicon also recently conducted another survey which looked into whom Slovenians trusted the most regarding Covid-19 developments and information.

The public still places the greatest trust in experts, with Aleš Rozman, director of the Golnik University Clinic of Respiratory and Allergic Diseases, and infectious diseases specialist Mateja Logar deemed most trust-worthy among them, both having gained 61 points of 100.

Mario Fafangel, the chair of the Centre for Communicable Diseases at the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ), is meanwhile the most recognisable expert.

Health Minister Tomaž Gantar, NIJZ head Milan Krek and government Covid-19 spokesman Jelko Kacin remain in the below-zero category when it comes to trust levels.

Interior Minister Aleš Hojs enjoys least trust, -59, preceded by Prime Minister Janez Janša (-50) and Education Minister Simona Kustec (-41).

Some 12% do not trust anyone of the 19 listed public figures, down by 3 percentage points compared to the first assessment in spring.

The survey, titled #NewNormal, was conducted between 27 and 29 November among 539 adults.

STA, 25 November 2020 - Parliament adopted in a 51:11 vote on Wednesday the sixth stimulus package designed to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus on the economy. The legislation extends several existing measures, while a major novelty is help with fixed expenses. The opposition was mainly critical of what it sees as "cuckoos" inserted in the package.

The latest package, valued at around EUR 1 billion, extends once again the furlough scheme, measures to improve liquidity and introduces help with fixed expenses among other things.

Prime Minister Janez Janša and Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj hailed the measures as helping preserve society, the state and the economy in good shape also for the period after the epidemic.

In what is a key novelty that will apply for the last three months of 2020 for the time being, companies with a revenue decline of over 70% will be eligible for compensation equalling 1.2% of their annual income per month; those whose revenue declined by between 30% and 70% will get 0.6% per month.

Šircelj said the criteria were set down in a manner that will allow the reimbursement of fixed expenses in the majority of sectors, while Janša highlighted the increase of the 80% state subsidy for furloughed workers to 100% for smaller companies.

Beyond the immediate aid to businesses, which also includes the extension of the possibility to defer the payment of taxes and loans, the new package brings a waiver of VAT on personal protective and medical equipment, simplified registration of remote work, and bonuses for staff working with Covid-19 patients.

Coalition MP also highlighted other measures, with Suzana Lep Šimenko of the Democrats (SDS) for instance listing the waving of rents for state-owned premises, a warm meal for underprivileged school children, and simplified application for welfare transfers.

Janja Sluga of the Modern Centre Party (SMC) also feels the new package is a fast response to the problems arising in the second wave of the epidemic. "The measures are good, our citizens need them and expect them."

The package was also backed by the opposition National Party (SNS), while the remaining opposition parties reiterated their criticism of legislative changes in the package they feel to be out of place.

"The government has once more drawn up a corona crisis package with cuckoos, which are exclusively about the pursuit of the interests of the largest coalition party," Marko Bandelli of the Alenka Pratušek Party (SAB) said.

While some provisions have been removed from the package - for instance basic income for religious workers and a provision that would have equalised the value of the vocational secondary school-leaving exam with the general secondary-school leaving exam - the opposition highlighted some that is still finds unacceptable.

One of them extends licences for subsidies for private universities even if they do not meet conditions for this at the moment, which the opposition says is geared towards helping one specific university, which is owned by a person with close ties to the SDS.

Another one scraps a three-month transitional period during which a person newly registered as unemployed is not yet obliged to accept a job deemed as appropriate for them by the Employment Service.

Also criticised strongly was the raising of the fine for those violating restrictions to public gatherings. The current fines, which range between 400 and 4,000 euros now, have been raised to EUR 1,200-12,000. The government initially wanted to penalise those inciting to such protest, but the provision was crossed out at committee.

"This is intimidation, terror and presages the end of democracy," Left MP Nataša Sukič said. SD deputy Dejan Židan added that the measure "will not help the epidemic, it will only make people angrier".

Some opposition MPs were also critical of the economic measures, with Brane Golubović of the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) saying effective answers have not been found for everybody affected by the crisis. Jani Prednik of the SocDems said the package lacked speed and simplicity and that the partial covering of fixed expanses would not suffice.

STA, 29 November 2020 - Slovenia recorded 1,106 new coronavirus cases in 3,644 tests on Saturday, which is on par with the figures seen a week ago. Forty-eight people died, data released by the government on Sunday shows.

The number of Covid-19 patients in hospital increased by 20 to 1,278, of which 195 were in intensive care, one more than the day before. 59 people were released from hospital.

Saturday's test positivity rate was 30%, seven percentage points up on Friday.

Five more deaths were recorded than the day before for a total toll of 1,384 so far. The number of positive tests since the start of the epidemic currently stands at 75,379.

There are presently 20,299 active cases in the country, a 192 increase on the figure reported on Saturday. The 14-day incidence per 100,000 is at 969, an increase of ten, according to tracker covid-19.sledilnik.

Bojana Beović, the head of the government's coronavirus task force, told the STA the results showed that a kind of ceiling had been reached in Slovenia but that the situation was still not improving.

"This also means that lifting the measures would mean 40% of Slovenian hospital beds would be occupied with Covid-19 patients in 14 days, not to speak of the number of deaths. But if we introduce even stricter measure, the question is how much they would be observed, given that even now the impression is that people find it hard to understand and respect the measures. This is showing very clearly in the results that we have," Beović said.

She assessed that after the drop in the test positivity rate on Friday indicated an improvement, the data for Saturday did not bode well for the chances of relaxing the measures.

Beović feels a social agreement is needed about what is important, which is "a decision that medicine actually has little to do with". She urged everybody to do what they can to enable at least "somewhat appropriate Christmas and New Year's holidays".

All our stories about Slovenia and coronavirus

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 27 November 2020. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here

Mladina: Govt botched crisis due to incompetence, lack of trust in people

STA, 27 November 2020 - The latest editorial by the left-wing weekly paper Mladina says that the government has botched the fight against the epidemic, identifying problems in the issuing of quarantine orders and the 80% instead of full coverage of pay for quarantined workers as the main mistakes.

Looking at infection trends per 100,000 people around the EU in the second wave, the paper says that Slovenia is the only country that has not only failed to reverse the growth but has even seen a deterioration even though major restrictions in different form have been in place for over five weeks and are among the strictest in the bloc.

Mladina says the system for quarantine orders failed in October, "which is why those who were sick and those who had had contact with those who tested positive were not staying home but continued to go to work. Why? If there is no order there is no pay compensation".

"After the start of the epidemic and until 1 October we had 6,104 confirmed infections in Slovenia and during this period the state issued 80,600 quarantine orders. Since 1 October and until this week no fewer than 60,976 infections were confirmed, but the state issued only 11,847 orders for pay compensation.

"Since we know that each infected individual comes into contact with at least one person, it is clear that a significantly larger number of quarantine orders should have been issued. This data shows that people in Slovenia are going to work even though they had contact with an infected person and spread the disease," Mladina says, adding a survey had indeed shown that the majority, over 25%, got infected at work.

The paper claims this is happening because the government's compensation system. "When an individual in Germany of Austria comes into contact with an infected person and needs to isolate they automatically get 100% pay compensation. In Slovenia, such a person is automatically punished, getting only 80% (and the same share is paid back by the state to the employer)."

Mladina argues such measures are pushing workers to continue working despite the circumstance and employers to force them to ignore dangerous contacts.

According to the paper, the government's approach is the result of the way the current decision makers are perceiving people - with disdain. The feel that providing full compensation would result in workers cheating.

"They were saying that they are simultaneously saving the economy and lives but in fact they deepened the crisis by dragging out a hard lockdown while completely losing control over the virus. There are waiting lines in morgues today," Mladina says in the commentary headlined Incompetent and Greedy.

Demokracija: Left  understood Janša's rule of law letter, EU didn’t

STA, 26 November 2020 – Demokracija, the right-wing weekly, writes about reactions to PM Janez Janša's letter to EU leaders in the latest editorial, asserting that the leftist opposition in the country failed to understand what German Chancellor Angela Merkel did as she described the letter as a call for compromise to resolve blockade by Hungary and Poland.

The right-wing weekly finds the left is prone to forgetfulness and double standards, recalling how "the leftist elite" - gathered at Stožice Arena in 2013 to celebrate the "soft coup and Alenka Bratušek's enthroning as the prime minister" - called the EU a "band of thieves" in what was a time that saw a culmination of "the ridiculing of the 'core' member states and the rule of law".

"You would think all of them went to special needs schools (...) It appeared to them again there was water in the pool. There may have been, it is only that German Chancellor Angela Merkel emptied the pool with her statement that Janša's letter is a call to a search for compromise to unblock funds for the post-pandemic recovery".

The paper says that it is clear politics cannot decide on the rule of law by an outvote, noting that in 2014 Janša's mandate was taken away by politics, an abuse later quashed by the Constitutional Court, without anyone being held accountable for that abuse.

The paper also uses the empty poll metaphor to describe the attempts by the centre-left opposition to form an alternative government under the economist Jože P. Damijan, saying they appear to be seeing the water as a mirage in the desert.

Damijan "can in no way explain his maths in enlisting support among MPs", he "appears to have serious problems himself as well as with others otherwise the far left Mladina magazine, which is unconditionally devoted to him, would not have called for prayer".

In conclusion, the piece says that while the right uses common sense, the capacity of candidates of the left is deteriorating, and appears to have reached a new low with Damijan: "You begin to wonder about the intellectual capacity of the deep state's master-chefs (...) wondering where the hell did they find such a substandard fellow".

All our posts in this series are here