STA, 31 October 2020 - Slovenia confirmed 1,796 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, on a par with the day before. A total of 6,710 tests were carried out, meaning that the positivity rate dropped to 26.8% from 28.2% the day before, the government's coronavirus spokesman Jelko Kacin announced on Twitter.

The number of tests has been gradually declining in recent days after it was decided to scale back testing to focus on the most vulnerable groups, most notably the elderly and health staff. Friday's test total is roughly ten percent below the daily peak.

Related, from yesterday: Most anti-corona restrictions extended by a week, some by two weeks

Epidemiologist Bojana Beović, the head of the government's medical task force for coronavirus, noted that the number of tests remained high despite the recommendation to adjust testing and was still "fairly reliable," meaning that the figures serve as an indicator of the state of the epidemic.

Hospital admissions continue to surge. There are currently 779 people in hospital, up from 703 the day before, while the number of patients in intensive care remained level at 122.

Beović said the growth was expected given the scale of confirmed infections. The figure is expected to continue rising and is projected to peak at around 1,200 if the containment measures are successful. The projected peak number of ICU patients is in the 200-300 range.

Another 23 people have died, 15 in hospital and eight at nursing homes, according to Kacin.

Since the start of the epidemic Slovenia has logged over 34,000 cases, of which 21,885 are currently active, while the rolling 14-day average has increased to 1,044 per 100,000 residents according to data tracker Covid-19 Sledilnik.

All our stories on Slovenia and coronavirus

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 30 October 2020. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here

Mladina: Incompetent populist authorities exploiting crisis

STA, 30 October 2020 - The latest editorial of the left-wing weekly paper Mladina speaks of populist authorities that are not really taking the situation seriously but exploiting it. It argues that the only way for people to resist is taking the protective measures even more seriously.

Mladina's editor chief Grega Repovž takes issue with the appearance of Archbishop of Ljubljana Stanislav Zore at Wednesday's coronavirus briefing of the government and his call to people that they should "donate for holy masses and for the maintenance of parishes" instead of buying flowers and candles for All Saint's Day this year.

An hour after Zore's appearance, the Bishops' Conference issued a statement as well, "with the bulk of the call consisting of a harsh attack on protesters, criticism of the public broadcaster and a disqualification of the opposition".

"On the same day the coalition led by Janez Janša submitted to parliament changes to the media act through which it will secure public funding for its Hungarian-owned TV Nova24. Are these people really taking the situation seriously?" Repovž wonders in the commentary headlined Multiplication Tables.

"But we need to be better than them, than the government and Church. The same behaviour is required towards them as was the case with the former Communist Party: in these circumstance and given their character one needs to primarily make sure not to give them a fresh reason to torment us."

Repovž argues that the measures are not working "because there is actually no real content behind them, because they are only about dramatic labels that are not backed by any real plan" or effective execution.

He says despots are thriving in chaos and argues that the worse that the crisis will get, the more citizens will be vulnerable and powerless in relation to the government.

Repovž says that the people, trying to honour the instructions of epidemiologists "even though these are ignored and violated by the authorities" are actually left to confront the crisis alone. The only way to resist is to abide by the protective measures even more diligently and hope that "the public system is robust enough to withstand even incompetent holders of power".

Demokracija: China needs to pay for its handling of outbreak

STA, 29 October 2020 - The latest editorial of the right-wing weekly paper Demokracija, headlined Six Crucial Days or China Needs to Pay, says it is clear that the Chinese Communist Party was withholding key information about the coronavirus pandemic in the critical early stage of the outbreak.

Editor-in-chief Jože Biščak says that the top brass of the Party already knew on 14 January that a health crisis of global proportions was in the making, but kept silent until 20 January, allowing mass celebrations to continue at the centre of the outbreak and not suspending travel around the world that started ahead of the Lunar New Year.

Throughout this period China had the support of the World Health Organisation (WHO), which thus shares part of the blame for everything that followed in the months after and is yet to come.

"And it is perverted that the Asian superpower is selling medicine and medical equipment for the fight against Covid-19 to the entire world now, making a good profit and being on course to recording (unlike the rest of the world) 5% GDP growth at the end of the year."

China is rejecting any responsibility, but in a very unconvincing fashion, since all facts show that this health crisis could have been avoided to a large extent had China been fair and transparent.

"But of course it is an illusion to expect this from the Communists, who have lies inscribed into their genetic code. Instead, they first rounded up, locked down and silenced the scientists who were warning the world of the disaster through different channels.

"Only then did they close Wuhan Airport, which provides flights to destinations around the world, including to London, Rome and Paris. The door to the world was opened wide for the virus. Despite all the evidence, China, in a typical Communist agitprop fashion, accused the US army of bringing the virus to Wuhan. This was of course debunked quickly.

"The withholding of data, the half-truths and lies coming from Beijing and above all the unbelievable negligence in dealing with the virus brought hell to the world. China needs to pay!"

All our posts in this series are here

STA, 30 October 2020 - Slovenia recorded 1,798 infections on a slightly scaled-down testing on Thursday, and another 23 fatalities among patients with Covid-19, the highest daily death toll yet, data from the government show.

Jump to restrictions extended or no light at the end of the tunnel

A total of 6,368 tests were performed in Slovenia yesterday, just over a thousand fewer than the day before, when 2,488 came back positive. This means that the positivity rate fell to 28.23% from almost 35%.

Hospitalisations have risen to 703, from 660 the day before, and the number of patients requiring intensive care increased by 13 to 122, putting a further strain on hospitals. On the positive side, forty patients were discharged home yesterday.

With another 23 fatalities, the national Covid-related death toll has risen to 315.

The latest cases bring Slovenia's case count to 32,503 and the number of active cases to 20,980, while the rolling 14-day average has increased to 1,001 per 100,000 residents, according to tracker site covid-19.sledilnik.org.

Commenting on the latest figures, Health Ministry State Secretary Tina Bregant said it was an "indication that the effect of the measures has kicked in".

However, despite the fall in the test positivity rate, she said the rate was still "extremely high" so it was essential for everyone to keep sticking to the restrictions, which the government has extended for another week, for the country to come out of the woods.

She said the slow-down in the outbreak was not sufficient yet, while the real indication of when the effect of lockdown restrictions kicked in, would be when the situation began to improve in hospitals.

Thanking the hard-working health staff and everyone involved in the effort, she said they needed "all the support we can give them" as she appealed to everyone to bear with the restrictions and projected a "few more difficult days ahead".

She would not say whether the extension of measures for a week would be enough, appealing for patience, which she said turned out to be as important as quick action in response to the pandemic.

Similarly, government spokesman Jelko Kacin said there was a "key race against the time" in hospitals at the moment as capacities are being expanded to be able to admit an expected surge in Covid-19 patients and save lives.

He said it was too early to say the situation was stabilising, so it was essential that people should stay at home and avoid any socialising whatsoever.

Most anti-corona restrictions extended by a week, some by two weeks

STA, 30 October 2020 - The government has extended key measures designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus epidemic in line with its policy of periodically checking the efficacy of measures based on input by an expert task force for coronavirus.

Most notably, store closures and the six-person ceiling for gatherings have been extended by a week. Mandatory masks in indoor and outdoor public spaces and mandatory use of hand sanitizers have been extended by two weeks.

The decision was made by the government at a correspondence session on Friday.

Chief epidemiologist does not see light at the end of the tunnel yet

STA, 30 October 2020 - Mario Fafangel, the head of the infectious diseases centre at the National Institute of Public Health, has warned in a televised interview that Slovenia is not out of the woods yet, even though coronavirus figures for Thursday might be lower than in the past two days.

In Thursday's interview with Odmevi, the late night news show on TV Slovenija, Fafangel commented on fresh figures showing that by late evening the number of positive tests had been at around 1,100 after over 2,600 on Tuesday and just below 2,500 on Wednesday, but he said the figure was not one that should make headlines.

"It could be that the figures are down even when an epidemic is in full swing. They fall because testing capacities have been exceeded, which has happened with us; because the testing protocol is changed, which has happened with us. People may take fright and don't get tested when their symptoms are still mild. So it would be a bit too early to talk of a light at the end of the tunnel," he said.

However, he said the headline making news today was no longer the daily figure, but rather the news was that people should stay at home, work from home, whenever possible. "Let's be in the bubble with our dearest, those without whom life wouldn't be worthwhile anyway. That's the news."

Fafangel agreed with the host that there was optimism in the Jožef Stefan Institute's projection yesterday that Covid-19 hospitalisations could fall after 4 November and intensive care numbers after 10 November if people stay at home.

Commenting on a rapid increase in infections among 35-45-year-olds and among teens, Fafangel said it reflected the spread of the virus within the most active groups of population, but it was good news epidemiologically in that it meant the older, most vulnerable group of population was being well protected, which was also evident from the number of fatalities.

Slovenia ranks 7th in the EU by the rolling 14-day average per 100,000 residents, at 1,230, while it places 16th by the number of deaths among patients with Covid-19, at 138 per million.

The incidence number says that no European country has been successful in grappling with the virus, says Fafangel, but he sees "something positive" in the fatality figure: "In the first wave we defended ourselves well, we're defending ourselves well this time, that is protecting the population most at risk."

He said that the National Institute of Public Health had joined the EUROMOMO portal that makes estimates on excess deaths on a weekly basis with the latest data for week 43 showing that Slovenia does not have a typical excess of deaths.

All stories on Slovenia and coronavirus

STA, 30 October 2020 - Following a meeting of the government and its Covid-19 task force on Thursday evening, Prime Minister Janez Janša tweeted in the early hours of Friday that anti-corona measures are to be extended for a week as projections show that case and hospitalisation figures are expected to keep growing for at least some time.

Relared: Primary Schools to Extend Autumn Holidays by Another Week

"However, if we are consistent and we all support health workers' efforts by acting responsibly, we can expect a gradual relaxing [of the restrictions] in between seven and ten days," said the prime minister.

Število obolelih za #COVID19 bo glede na projekcije žal vsaj še nekaj časa naraščalo. Ukrepi bodo zato podaljšani za teden dni. A če bomo dosledni in bomo vsi z odgovornim obnašanjem podprli napore zdravstvenih delavcev, lahko čez 7 do 10 dni pričakujemo postopno sproščanje. pic.twitter.com/Qf9WItRLeQ

— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) October 29, 2020

More details about the week-long extension of the measures will be presented by relevant ministers at today's briefing, according to the government's spokesman Jelko Kacin.

It seems that a 9pm-6am curfew, a ban on movement between municipalities and a cap on gatherings of more than six people will remain in force next week.

Children are not expected to return to schools yet. However, it is yet unclear whether remote learning will be re-introduced or whether the autumn holidays will be extended.

A total of 2,488 new infections were confirmed on Wednesday and as much as 109 Covid-19 patients needed intensive care. The government's chief Covid-19 adviser Bojana Beović said that day that it would be sensible the measures last 28 days to show their efficiency.

All our stories on coronavirus and Slovenia

STA, 30 October 2020 - The autumn holidays will be extended for a week for the pupils of primary schools in Slovenia, the government spokesman Jelko Kacin told TV Slovenija on Friday. Remote schooling will resume in secondary schools, and kindergartens will continue providing only urgent daycare. All other restrictions remain in force as well.

Primary and secondary schools have holidays this week and primary schools pupils will remain at home next week due to the epidemiological situation in the country.

The extension aims to limit contact and hence stem the spread of coronavirus, government spokesman Jelko Kacin and Education Minister Simona Kustec said on Friday.

Kustec said the decision was informed by messages from primary school head teachers, who reported many coronavirus patients in the ranks of the teaching staff. The one-week extension will give them time to recover and reorganise.

Head teachers at secondary schools, on the other hand, proposed that classes continue remotely since they are well prepared for remote schooling.

Kustec said the missed primary school classes will be held through the remainder of the year and an extension of the school year was not currently on the table.

Since the start of this week kindergartens have been providing daycare only for children whose parents work and cannot secure daycare.

Since kindergartens are officially run by local communities, mayors have been given discretion to keep them open in the event of urgency, and this system remains in place for now.

More than 90% of kindergarten children stayed home or were put in other forms of care this week.

Universities switched to mostly remote classes at the start of the academic year and classes will continue according to the guidelines that they have put in place.

Kustec said the move was designed to "contribute to the situation calming down". "We need optimism and the feeling of normalcy," she said.

All our stories on coronavirus and Slovenia

STA, 29 October 2020 - Slovenia's coronavirus total has passed 30,000 and the number of active infections exceeded 20,000 after the country reported a further 2,488 cases for Wednesday.

Data presented by government spokesman Jelko Kacin at a briefing, show 7,202 Sars-CoV-2 tests were performed in the country yesterday, which means 34.55% of all tests came back positive, roughly on a par with the rate the day before when the daily infections tally hit a record of 2,605.

In another worrying milestone, the number of patients hospitalised with Covid-19 in intensive care units exceeded 100, at 109, ten more than the day before, as hospitalisations rose to 660, 48 more than the day before, despite 47 being discharged home, according to Kacin.

The latest cases bring Slovenia's case count to 30,703 and the number of active cases to 20,016, while the rolling 14-day average has increased to 955 per 100,000 residents, according to tracker site covid-19.sledilnik.org.

Another eight patients with Covid-19 died in hospitals and six in care homes yesterday, that is a total of 14, which brings the national Covid-related death toll to 292.

Labour Minister Janez Cigler Kralj said the latest data from the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) showed 748 of a total of some 19,000 residents in the country's 102 aged-care facilities were currently infected, with two-thirds of the homes having had infections, most of them just one or two.

According to Kacin, of the latest infections, 337 were confirmed in Ljubljana, 80 in Velenje and 79 in Maribor.

The worst affected region remains Gorenjska in the north-west, where nearly 20% of all new infections were recorded; 132 in Kranj, 66 in Škofja Loka, 51 in Tržič, 48 in Radovljica, 31 in Jesenice, 26 in Bled and 19 in Bohinj. Its 14-day average per 100,000 was 1,626 as of 27 October.

The other most affected regions are Koroška in the north and central Slovenia, epidemiologist with NIJZ Nuška Čakš Jager reported.

She noted a considerable increase in infections among the 35-45-year-olds, with the share of infected women across all age groups higher than the proportion of infected men.

Meanwhile, infectiologist Mateja Logar of the Ljubljana UKC's department of infectious diseases said that all IUC beds for Covid-19 patients were full.

Of 163 Covid-19 patients hospitalised at UKC Ljubljana this morning, 35 were in intensive care, she said, adding that work was under way to secure more beds, but the problem was staff.

This is why employees from ICUs where less critical patients are being treated are being reassigned to Covid-19 intensive care units.

When another ten ICU beds set up at the hospital in the Šiška borough are full, Covid-19 patients will be moved to the ORL department, while construction work is under way to adapt the emerging diagnostic and therapeutic centre into a Covid-19 treating facility. The work there should be completed in ten days.

All our stories on coronavirus and Slovenia. If you want statistics and visualisations, then this site in the best, and in English - covid-19.sledilnik.org

STA, 28 October 2020 - Prime Minister Janez Janša visited UKC Ljubljana today, meeting director Janez Poklukar. The latter said in a statement after the meeting that the hospital was investing massive efforts in providing beds, but the biggest problem was lack of staff.

"For 300 Covid-19 patients and another 60 in intensive care, we need 500 nurses and between 75 and 100 doctors. We need to reorganise other programmes to create internal reserves to tend to Covid-19 patients," Poklukar said.

Currently, there are 150 Covid-19 patients at UKC Ljubljana, of them 28 are in intensive care. They are located at five different locations: the infectious diseases clinic, the orthopaedic clinic, the old and the new paediatric clinic and the Peter Držaj hospital.

Preko 1700m2 nedograjenih bolnišničnih kapacitet že več kot desetletje sameva v @ukclj. V manj kot 10 dneh lahko s hitro adaptacijo zagotovimo veliko število oskrbnih mest za #Covid bolnike tik poleg vse ostale potrebne infrastrukture. Izziv za naše gradbenike. #Zmoremo? pic.twitter.com/NXQpstz7Bj

— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) October 28, 2020

Poklukar also said that an agreement would be made with spa operators in the coming days to take in some of the patients. Talks are taking place at the national level, said Poklukar, who believes that patients who are no longer infectious could be sent to spas.

Poklukar today briefed Janša about the hospital's efforts, with the prime minister commending the hospital staff for their work during the pandemic.

The prime minister said in a tweet that more than 1,700 square metres of space had been left undeveloped at the hospital for over a decade, saying that quick adaptation works could provide a large number of beds for Covid-19 patients.

UKC Ljubljana explained for the STA that these were premises of a planned diagnostic and therapeutic service complex, which was an extension to the main hospital building.

The premises are in the development phase and the original plan was for them to house intensive therapy and operating theatres, the hospital said, adding that it would now try to turn it into a makeshift Covid-19 ward with around 100 beds.

All our stories on coronavirus and Slovenia

STA, 28 October 2020 - The Civil Society Alliance, an ad-hoc group, has urged the National Assembly to put an end to the government's abuse of the Covid-19 epidemic for its own ideological agenda and for an enhanced introduction of authoritarianism.

The public appeal, filed to parliament on Wednesday, remains open for signing after it has already been joined by 42 organisations and over 740 individuals.

The alliance brings together anti-government protesters, individuals and civil groups after Friday cycling rallies were suspended due to the worsening of the epidemic and other forms of protest were announced last week.

The appeal shows that those who penned it have come together to restore democracy and the rule of law and boost the welfare state, social responsibility and solidarity.

In a statement in front of the National Assembly, they said the appeal aimed to remind MPs of their constitutional right and duty to recall such a government.

Ex-Health Minister Dušan Keber (2000-2004) said that "instead of fully focussing on containing the epidemic, which poses a tremendous health and economic threat and threatens to turn into a humanitarian catastrophe sooner or later, the government is adopting laws and by-laws, appointing staff along the party lines, attacking the media, subjugating the police, humiliating judges and attacking the civil society in the shadow of paralysed public life and in the absence of public debate".

The alliance urges the government to withdraw the changes to media legislation and the bills on the demographic fund and on the abolishment of several public agencies.

It also takes issue with excluding NGOs from environmental procedures and evicting NGOs from the Metelkova complex and with a bill on investment in military equipment.

Parliamentary Speaker Igor Zorčič announced after receiving the appeal, which the alliance hopes would gather 50,000 signatures, that he would distribute it to all MPs.

While every MPs can form their own opinion on the proposals in the appeal, Zorčič believes the assessment that democracy is being trampled on is exaggerated.

He said that "nothing has happened that would warrant such action" on the part of the National Assembly.

Zorčič however said the protesters' decision to suspend Friday cycling rallies was a responsible move.

STA, 28 October 2020 - The Employers' Association (Združenje delodajalcev Slovenije - ZDS) called on the government on Wednesday to freeze the minimum wage for at least a year as part of the planned sixth anti-corona package. It also proposes a more flexible and simpler framework for teleworking and retiring upon meeting minimum retirement conditions.

"Employers are aware that each anti-corona package so far has brought upgrades of previous measures as well as new measures.

"Our proposals have been acknowledged during negotiations, however the Employers' Association has been noting an urgent need for certain labour market measures since March, measures that have not been included in the packages so far, and we expect them in the sixth anti-corona package."

The employers deem freezing the minimum wage a priority measure.

The new formula for setting the minimum wage, which enters into force in January, does not envisage coordinating the minimum wage with social partners; instead it excludes employers and trade unions from the procedure and puts the Labour Ministry in charge of determining the amount, said the association.

"The existing law has also never been discussed by the Economic and Social Council, it was adopted without social dialogue and without taking into account any of the arguments of businesses."

The Slovenian economy is in the middle of the gravest economic crisis in the past 70 years due to Covid-19, said the association, adding that the general consensus of opinion is that 2021 will not see recovery let alone results similar to those in 2019.

In such circumstances the economy cannot stand even minimum pressure in regard to labour costs, said the association, noting that any minimum wage raise, which would lead to pay raises in general, would be unimaginable during such a crisis.

A month ago, Sonja Šmuc, the director general of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS), said that GZS projections showed the minimum wage will rise by at least 9% based on the new formula that puts it 20% above the minimum cost of living.

She warned that the last substantial rise in the minimum wage a decade ago caused a structural unemployment situation and had a long-lasting impact.

Šmuc argued now is not the time to experiment with a new formula and urged that the minimum wage be preserved at current levels at least in 2021.

The opposition Left, which drafted the new law, responded to today's call by the Employers' Association by saying that the organisation had overlooked the needs of workers and their families in following its own interests.

"The new concept of the minimum wage, which is being introduced gradually, is a guarantee that no one who works will live in poverty," said the Left, adding that certain representatives of the capital were trying to prevent the realisation of this concept.

The party also said that employers had received a significant financial aid from the state, which is why the cost of the minimum wage raise would be "a drop in the ocean" compared to those amounts.

Another organisation that appealed to the government for help today is the Chamber of Commerce (TZS).

The closure of shops during the epidemic has aggravated the situation of retailers, warned the chamber, calling for the sixth stimulus package to feature aid for companies whose operations have been restricted or suspended due to anti-corona restrictions.

Non-grocery retailers are among worst-hit business sectors, said the TZS, adding that those that are required to be closed or partially closed generate 30% of Slovenia's total retail income.

Such companies have been pushed to the limits of financial capacities and jobs have been jeopardised, pointed out the chamber, deeming government aid vital.

The TZS proposes Slovenia follow Austria's example of a fixed-cost subsidy scheme to help retailers come out on top of the coronavirus crisis.

STA, 28 October 2020 - A total of 2,605 infections were confirmed in nearly 7,500 Covid-19 tests in Slovenia on Tuesday. Both figures mark the highest daily values since the start of the epidemic. The previous daily record was just short of 2,000 and was reached last Friday.

The week-on-week comparison shows that the pace of increase may be starting to slow down. While weekly increases of 100% were the norm in the past two weeks, on Monday and Tuesday they were at 87% and 73%, respectively.

Almost 35% of all tests came back positive on Tuesday, the highest rate so far. The 14-day cumulative number of Covid-19 cases per 100,000 population, an EU-wide benchmark, is currently at 872, according to Jelko Kacin, the government's Covid-19 spokesman.

The number of people in hospital with Covid-19 rose to 612, as 113 were newly admitted on Tuesday and 54 discharged from hospital.

The number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care rose by 12 to 99, with 57 needing a ventilator to breathe.

Seven people died in hospital yesterday and another seven at nursing homes, putting the national death toll at 278, according to the covid-19.sledilnik.org tracker site.

Seven people died in hospital yesterday. Kacin said fatality data from nursing homes was not yet processed, which means the final figure for the day cannot be determined yet.

There are now an estimated 18,269 active cases in the country out of a total of 28,208 infections since the start of the epidemic.

Kacin said that an average delay of two days is occurring in the notification of individuals who tested positive, as epidemiologists cannot keep up with the large rise in new infections.

Asked about potential new restrictive measures, he announced the government would decide on what is a very likely "prolongation of a number of measures" on Thursday.

On the same day a meeting will take place at the European level and the government will decide on further steps after it. Individual measures will be presented on Friday.

Kacin announced a decision on whether children return to schools after this week's autumn holidays would be taken by the government on Thursday evening at the latest.

All our stories on coronavirus and Slovenia