Ljubljana related
STA, 12 August 2020 - A survey about young people during the epidemic has shown that youths perceived distance learning as less effective than in-class education. More than a quarter were concerned about finishing the year. But the biggest problem for them was the lack of social contacts. Nevertheless, most also see positive sides of the situation.
About 72% of the young included in the survey conducted by the Slovenian Youth Council in May and June assessed that remote learning was less efficient than traditional schooling.
More than half of them believe they did not absorb the knowledge well enough and that they did not receive adequate and clear information.
About 20% of the respondents said they did not have all the required equipment for home schooling. More than a third had problems with internet connection, and more than a quarter expressed concern about whether they will be able to finish the year at all.
Six percent of respondents said that they did not have their own access to fresh air such as a balcony, terrace or a garden during lockdown, while 16% reported not having the necessary peace and quiet in their home when needed.
About 17% of the young included in the survey had to move home from their student dorm because of the epidemic.
As for coping with the absence of public transport, 14% said this had a negative impact on their everyday life because they would need public transport during the epidemic or because they had to help others who would need it. But more than half (53%) said they use public transport regularly but did not needed it during the epidemic.
Almost half of respondents (47%) said their income decreased during the epidemic, and one in four said their income in that period was not enough to cover their basic needs. The Youth Council attributes this drop to a drop in demand for student work.
The feelings of loneliness increased among some young people, with 15% of young women and 7% of young men saying they had nobody to turn to.
About 49% of young women and 36% of young men said they obeyed all rules and recommendations during the epidemic.
As many as 69% of respondents said they missed contacts with other people, especially their friends and relatives.
However, 85% of respondents also detected some positive changes, such as changes to their personal habits, pointing to better hygiene standards and a healthier lifestyle, but also to positive changes related to environment protection, calmer lifestyle, opening hours of shops, more family time, less traffic, changed shopping habits, solidarity, and digitalisation.
STA, 12 August 2020 - Ljubljana, whose tourism has been booming before the corona crisis, saw a 76% drop in nights spent in accommodation facilities in July compared to the same month last year. Hotels were only about 30% booked for last month, and in August this rose to 40%.
The data for 22 hotels and two hostels in the capital, of which four hotels were still closed in July and one of them opened partly in August, depending on demand, shows that in July, 28,150 nights were recorded, a significant drop from 117,000 in the same period last year, when they were all open.
Between 1 and 9 August, tourists spent 12,700 nights at the hotels and hostels, while almost 38,200 nights were generated in the same period last year.
"We mostly have foreign guests but we are happy that the number of Slovenian guests has risen significantly this year," Turizem Ljubljana told the STA, noting that 40% more Slovenian guests were recorded in July than in the same month last year, and that in the first nine days of August their number doubled.
Slovenians generated about 14% of all nights in both July and August.
The 18 or 19 hotels and two hostels that were open in August were 40% booked this month.
Turizem Ljubljana hopes that if the coronavirus situation remains unchanged or improves, the figures will rise further. A major promotion campaign is planned for the capital in Slovenia in September.
"We cannot be happy with the summer season," assistant director of Hotel Slon in the centre of Ljubljana Željko Vrhovac told the STA, noting that the occupancy rate was about 30%, which is 60 percentage points lower than in the same period in the past years.
"We've expected a faster recovery but the situation with the second wave of Covid-19 changed all that."
The share of Slovenian guests at the hotel reached about 10% in July and August, while before Covid-19, their share was less than 1%. "We attribute the rise to tourist vouchers and special packages we have prepared, and also restrictions to travelling abroad," he said.
Foreign guests mostly come from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. But these are individuals spending their holidays here, while other segments of guests such as business guests, conferences, seminars and groups have not picked up yet.
Vrhovac does not expect the situation to improve significantly until a vaccine is found.
Another Ljubljana hotel, which is slightly further away from the centre, the M Hotel, is posting an occupancy rate of 20%, which compares to 96% in the same period last year.
"Perhaps we expected a bit more Italian guests, who are quite regular visitors to Slovenia, and consequently a bit more bookings in August, but very few have come and there are no new reservations," said Gregor Erbežnik, head of sales at M Hotel.
Most of their guests are in transit, stopping on their way to Croatia. They also have some business guests. "We have virtually no Slovenian guests, despite the vouchers, which was expected, as people choose coastal and mountain destinations over Ljubljana."
STA, 11 August 2020 - One person died and 17 new SARS-CoV-2 infections were confirmed in 1,058 tests in Slovenia on Monday according to the most recent data released by the government on Tuesday. 23 people were in hospital with two requiring intensive care.
With the total tally of cases reaching 2,272, there are currently 171 active cases of infection in Slovenia, while 129 have died in total, according to the national tracker covid-19.sledilnik.
Government speaker Jelko Kacin told the press on Tuesday that at least eight of the cases confirmed yesterday were imported from abroad, one from Bosnia-Herzegovina and seven of them from Croatia, where many Slovenians are on summer vacation.
As regards Croatia he said that the country's epidemiological situation was not particularly bad, especially not on the coast, where most of Slovenian holidaymakers are located.
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Kacin blamed youngsters who disregard social distancing measures at parties for continuous spreading of the virus in Slovenia, but also said that with 7.99 infections per 100,000 people Slovenia was "very safe" and that the situation was now much better than a fortnight ago when 24 new cases were confirmed on 29 July.
He moreover said that this second wave of the pandemic in Slovenia was milder than the first, giving hope that people returning from holidays will not worsen the situation.
Even so, he warned people going abroad to avoid crowds, wear face masks and be diligent about hand hygiene. They should also refrain from going to night clubs abroad.
With the school bound to start in three weeks, Kacin also called on parents to be careful about their family travels, urging them to avoid countries with poor epidemiological situation.
He said the government was hoping school would start normally, but was also preparing for the worst case scenario of remote schooling.
Kacin also talked about Slovenia's vaccine order plans, saying that "initial numbers were some 200,000 doses in the first phase", adding that Slovenia is yet to decide which of the vaccines it should buy.
He said that the most vulnerable groups, including the elderly, elderly home residents, their staff, and health care workers, would have precedence.
Out of the 17 cases confirmed yesterday, seven were in Ljubljana, while none were confirmed in Hrastnik, where a local elderly care home has been a hotspot of infection for weeks. However, the one fatality recorded yesterday was a Hrastnik care home resident hospitalised in Maribor.
One case was also confirmed in Novo Mesto yesterday, after a nurse in the local elderly home tested positive last week. The care home said today that none of the residents cared for by the infected nurse had tested positive.
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STA, 8 August 2020 - Bojana Beović, the government's chief Covid-19 advisor, has told the STA that future developments are uncertain and that the government is preparing for various scenarios as regards the regime at schools in the autumn. She noted the winter-related epidemic trends presently seen in Australia were not inspiring optimism.
Beović said the epidemiological situation in Slovenia was presently fairly calm. A few new cases are recorded each day but in a scope that can be controlled. There is however concern that not all cases are detected and that the virus could be spreading around the country unnoticed.
The number of tests presently conducted is down by about 20%, but the infectologist said the criteria for ordering a test remained the same. Fact is that there a fewer respiratory issues in the summer and that people are on holiday and probably do not call their doctor if they are mildly ill, she argued.
Turning to plans for the education system, she said the situation was bound to see some changes in the coming weeks, which is why making predictions was hard.
The general idea is to enable the possibility for only partial school closures, one of the proposal also being to set up a green, yellow and red system similar to the one used for countries.
The Education Ministry has prepared four models for the autumn. The two extreme options are fully open and fully closed schools, while the middle options would see a combination of lessons in class and distance learning, with younger children being prioritised for the former.
Meanwhile, Beović noted that Australia, where there is currently winter, albeit mild, is experiencing serious problems with infections. "Reports from Australia do not inspire hope," she said.
The latest statistics on coronavirus and Slovenia, and the latest police news on red, green and yellow list countries
STA, 7 August 2020 - Anti-government protests continued for the 16th straight Friday in Ljubljana, this time targeting the handling of coronavirus outbreaks at care homes. Meanwhile, dozens took to the streets in Izola following the reports that the coastal town had paid two hotel rooms for Agriculture Minister Aleksandra Pivec.
Protesters in Ljubljana converged on Prešeren Square where they were addressed by Biserka Marolt Meden, the head of an NGO promoting the rights of older people, who lambasted the government policy on aged care facilities and the idea that infected residents should be put up in mobile units.
The protesters demonstrated their opposition to the idea with an impromptu theatrical performance that saw activists carrying politicians' masks being taken by protesters to a container terminal set up at the finish of the protest march near Pionirski Dom.
— Delo (@Delo) August 7, 2020
Nov petek, nov #protest. V središču Ljubljane so se začeli znova zbirati protivladni protestniki. pic.twitter.com/zArBoLozCR
— Tina Hacler (@TinaHacler) August 7, 2020
Poln trg. pic.twitter.com/G0ua4yzXVZ
— Marin Medak (@marinmedak) August 7, 2020
Sprehod po Miklošičevi ob Himni generacije in glasnih žvižgih na #protest. @rtvslo pic.twitter.com/bZFisnXU9g
— Tina Hacler (@TinaHacler) August 7, 2020
There, a letter was read out written by residents of a care home who expressed their grievances about the lack of social contacts and noted that the right to treatment is a constitutional right. The protest ended with red smoke billowing from the container as a way of demonstrating that such mobile units "may not be the best solution for those ending up in them".
The first of the "politicians" to be taken to the container was the one carrying the mask of Aleksandra Pivec, the agriculture minister and head of the Pensioners Party (DeSUS), who has become embroiled in a series of allegations of corruption, including that the town of Izola paid for a hotel bill for her and her two sons.
Pivec was also the target of protests in Izola, where the participants also demanded the resignation of Mayor Danilo Markočič, a member of Pivec's DeSUS, who has also come under fire for allegations that he has sold an olive orchard for EUR 244,000 to a Russian businessman whose company last year bought a building plot in an elite location from the municipality.
The mayor has rejected calls for resignation, saying he had done nothing wrong.
The protest in Izola was also attended by Ivan Gale, the whistleblower from the Commodity Reserves Agency who has exposed alleged wrongdoing in the procurement of medical supplies.
Protests were also held in other parts of the country.
STA, 7 August 2020 - Slovenia has added Belgium and several other countries to its red list of countries, which signals high risk in terms of coronavirus contagion. The Czech Republic, Malta, Switzerland and three Spanish administrative units have been meanwhile removed from the green list of safe countries and demoted to yellow.
The changes were made by the government last night, effective immediately.
Apart from Belgium, Saint Martin, Equatorial Guinea, the Faroe Islands and Namibia are now on the red list as well, meaning arrival from these countries entails a mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Currently, the red list features 58 countries.
A number of countries have been upgraded from the red list to the yellow list - Belorussia, Algeria, Ecuador and Spanish administrative unit Valencia.
Meanwhile, the Spanish administrative units that have been demoted to the yellow list are the Balearic Islands, Cantabria, and Castile and Leon.
Persons with permanent or temporary residence in countries on the green list or persons arriving from those countries can enter Slovenia without restrictions or a mandatory quarantine.
From yellow-listed countries entry without the need to self-isolate is granted to Slovenian citizens and foreigners with permanent or temporary residence in Slovenia if they submit a proof (such as an invoice for the accommodation or property ownership certificate) that they have not come from a red-listed country. If they cannot produce such a proof they are ordered to self-isolate for 14 days.
Arrivals from red-listed countries regardless of citizenship and those who have temporary or permanent residence in those countries are also subject to a mandatory two-week quarantine or isolation, except for several exceptions, including transit and international transport.
Moreover, the government decided at yesterday's correspondence session that restrictions on public gatherings remain in force due to coronavirus concerns.
This story was published on 7 August, 2020 – you can see the latest details on entering Slovenia during the coronavirus crisis here
STA, 5 August 2020 - Covid-19 patients in Slovenia are primarily treated with support measures that target symptoms, meaning they receive oxygen and fever-reducing drugs if necessary. Those with severe symptoms are given remdesivir, favipiravir and dexamethasone, drugs that research shows can be potentially effective.
Remdesivir, an antiviral agent, is administered to those who need intensive care or have a rapidly increasing need for oxygen supply, Mateja Logar, an infectiologist at the UKC Ljubljana hospital, has explained for the STA.
Those with slightly milder symptoms and in the starting stage of the disease but with coexisting conditions are administered favipiravir, a drug so far used to treat the flu.
With those who need oxygen but have been receiving it for a period where favipiravir is no longer a viable option, the drug of choice is dexamethasone, a corticosteroid that has been used for decades, mostly to treat various kinds of inflammations.
"These are drugs that multiple studies have shown to be potentially effective while also having a relatively favourable safety profile," Logar added.
Slovenian doctors do not use hydroxychloroquine, an arthritis medicine that also can be used to prevent malaria, nor do they use the antibiotic azithromycin or drugs for HIV, as these have been proven ineffective in multiple studies.
The Slovenian Blood Transfusion centre is also collecting the plasma of those who got through a Sars-CoV-2 infection in the spring months and is storing it in case the need arises to use it for treatment. Plasma treatment has so far not been used at UKC Ljubljana for Covid-19.
There has been no treatment with stem cells either, given that this an experimental type of treatment that involves a number of technical difficulties.
UKC Ljubljana has so far not participated in clinical trials, since the studies also involved certain drugs that were not deemed appropriate. The hospital did share data on treatment with the producer of remdesivir.
STA, 4 August 2020 - Thirteen public health institutions and a private concessionaire have received the much-discussed ventilators Siriusmed R30 ordered through Geneplanet. Although the Health Ministry decided in May that they could be kept only if additional equipment is supplied to make them suitable for Covid-19 patients only two hospitals received this equipment.
The EUR 8 million contract with company Geneplanet for the purchase of 220 ventilators Siriusmed R30 was rescinded in May following allegations of favourable treatment and doubts about the suitability of the ventilators for use on Covid-19 patients.
Experts said at the time that Siriusmed R30 was suitable for use on Covid-19 patients provided a compressor and an air humidifier with heated pipes are supplied additionally.
After the contract was terminated, Geneplanet had to return EUR 5.2 million for 130 ventilators to the Commodity Reserves Agency, and the agency told the STA it had received the money on 15 May.
Since 110 ventilators have already been delivered to the Commodity Reserves Agency, the ministry decided to keep 90 of them under the condition that additional equipment be delivered, and return 20.
Since then, the agency has distributed 20 ventilators to the UKC Ljubljana and Maribor hospitals, with each receiving 10, while 20 went to the Celje hospital.
The remaining 70 ventilators were given to the Administration for Civil protection and Disaster Relief, which has distributed 49 of them to ten hospitals. Twenty were returned to Geneplanet.
The most, 11 ventilators, went to the Murska Sobota general hospital, the Ptuj hospital received seven, the Topolšica hospital six, while the hospitals in Nova Gorica, Trbovlje and Jesenice received five each. Another four went to Slovenj Gradec, three to Izola, two to Brežice and one to Sežana.
One ventilator was given to the Bitenc clinic, a private clinic with concession operating within the Golnik hospital, which is one of the hospitals treating Covid-19 patients.
This could prove to be controversial, as the act on investments in public health institutes stipulates that the state must invest in the medical and non-medical equipment of public not private health institutions.
The founder of the clinic, surgeon Marko Bitenc, told the STA the clinic had requested the ventilator because its patients with lung cancer get transferred after surgery to the intensive care unit of the Golnik hospital, and by having their own ventilator a potential spread of the infection would be prevented.
Bitenc said the ventilator had been supplied to the clinic without a contract, so he is not sure whether the clinic now owns it or it is there only on loan.
It was the Health Ministry that had made the list of the institutions that will receive the ventilators but due to summer leave it remains unclear what criteria was used and why a ventilator was also supplied to a private concessionaire.
The Commodity Reserves Agency was also to supply the additional equipment to go with the ventilators but then decided that health institutions have to purchase it themselves.
The Murska Sobota and UKC Ljubljana hospitals received the additional equipment for the ventilators, but other hospitals have not. The Murska Sobota hospital said it had received all additional equipment and UKC Ljubljana received air humidifiers.
The director of the Brežice hospital, Anica Hribar, told the STA that the hospital was using Siriusmed R30 only for non-invasive ventilation, for which it was appropriate without additional equipment. The hospital has other ventilators available for the more difficult cases, she added.
The Celje hospital said ventilators Siriusmed R30 were appropriate for Covid-19 patients and other patients given that the hospital always used the tube system with filters that prevent infections.
STA, 3 August 2020 - The Association of Social Institutions has left the government task force for Covid-19 after their demands regarding the treatment of infected residents of care homes off-site have not been met. The Labour Ministry said it regretted the association's decision, while the Health Ministry said the association shared part of the blame for the issues.
The association initially intended to pull out of the task force which is setting the protocols for preventing the spreading of coronavirus in social security institutions on Saturday but received a new proposal regarding the treatment of infected care homes residents at the end of last week.
The solution included the possibility of transferring the infected residents to mobile units since the association has been pushing for the infected residents to be isolated outside care homes immediately so as to prevent the spreading of infections.
The association's task force looked into the proposal during the weekend but was obviously not persuaded by the solutions offered.
The demand for implementing the law and isolating the infected residents of health or other institutions whose architectural design meets the standards for such institutions has not been met, the association told the STA on Monday.
It has also been warning that most care homes do not have the capacity to set up three separate zones - a red zone for infected residents, a grey zone for potential infections and a white zone for healthy residents - in case of confirmed Covid-19 as envisaged by the current protocols.
A survey conducted by the association and NGO Amnesty International Slovenije between 30 July and 3 August among 83 social security institutions has shown that more than 86% of the institutions are physically unable to set up grey and red zones, while 93% of them lack technical capacities. Almost all institutions, 98%, lack the required staff.
Labour Ministry State Secretary Cveto Uršič said he regretted the decision of the association, noting that they had been cooperating well so far. He said representatives of the association would continue to be invited to the meetings of the task force.
"(Care) homes have been dealing with the epidemic properly, which is being confirmed by the fact that more than nine out of ten homes have successfully avoided infections. We are witnessing new infections at homes in recent weeks, but they have been responding well, including in Hrastnik, where the number of infected has been dropping," Uršič told the press.
He said hospitals had recently set up four special Covid-19 units where care home residents who would otherwise not need hospital treatment could be temporarily placed to give care homes time to set up isolation zones.
He also noted that funds for additional staff had been secured and that the Health Ministry was offering training to care home staff on ways to avoid infection.
Efforts are under way to secure enough equipment to last care homes for 30 days, he added.
"To sum up, it is a real pity for the representatives of the association to step down. A lot of effort has been invested on their part and on the part of homes and both ministries," he said.
Meanwhile, a somewhat differently toned reaction came from the Health Ministry, which wrote it was not surprised by the association's decision, "in particular because it shares responsibility for the situation, having co-shaped through the years the manner in which work is organised and staffing standards are set".
"This is an attempt to discredit the search for joint solutions," the ministry added, saying negotiation were not possible when planning for elderly care, as all decisions needed to have professional reasons as opposed to reasons based on interests or politics.
"Everybody who needs hospital care gets it ... We all operate in the interest of the residents. To expect that a resident will be moved out of the care home merely over the suspicion of infection is unethical, unprofessional and inhumane," the Health Ministry said in a written response for the STA.
The ministry added it was aware of staffing and logistic issues at some homes, but argued that those who had approached the situation in a constructive manner were coping successfully.
Suggesting that the novel coronavirus could be present in Slovenia for several years to come, the ministry said it had quizzed care homes about their interest in obtaining container accommodation units that would help address the lack of room for manoeuvring.
The association said earlier today it was hoping that their pulling out of the government task force is only temporary and that it was prepared to take part in informal meetings.
"We're still open for communication with the state, with decision-makers who will listen to our views, opinions and concrete experience ... who will give us the chance to participate, not just be present."
The government Covid-19 task force is to hold its next meeting on Thursday and Uršič said he hoped to see representatives of the association there.
The issue of handling coronavirus infections at care homes rose to prominence once again after Slovenia's curve started to rise in the last few weeks and the care home in Hrastnik became the site of a major outbreak.
STA, 31 July 2020 - Slovenia has added Bulgaria, Romania, the Bahamas, India and five Spanish administrative units to its red list of countries from which arrival entails a mandatory two-week quarantine due to coronavirus. Spain, Belgium, Australia, Morocco, Andorra and Canada have been removed from the green list of safe countries, and demoted to yellow.
The changes were made by the government last night and effective from Friday 31 July.
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Five of Spain's administrative units - Ceuta, Melilla, Asturias, Galicia and the Canary Islands - are now on the green list, and five - Valencia, the Basque Country, Catalonia, Navarre and Aragon - are now on the red list.
The government in addition upgraded from the red list to yellow Djibouti, Sweden, Gibraltar, the Cayman Islands, Portugal, Equatorial Equatorial Guinea and the Seychelles.
Persons with permanent or temporary residence in the countries on the green list or persons arriving from those countries can enter Slovenia without restrictions or a mandatory quarantine.
From yellow-listed countries entry without the need to self-isolate is granted to Slovenian citizens and foreigners with permanent or temporary residence in Slovenia if they submit a proof (such as an invoice for the accommodation or property ownership certificate) that they have not come from a red-listed country. If they cannot produce such a proof they are ordered to self-isolate for 14 days.
Arrivals from red-listed countries regardless of citizenship and those who have temporary or permanent residence in those countries are also subject to a mandatory two-week quarantine or isolation, except for several exceptions, including transit and international transport.
