STA, 27 November 2021 - Slovenia's national advisory committee on immunization has decided to recommend a booster shot of a vaccine against Covid-19 to all adults, that is everyone aged 18 or over.

The body has decided to expand the booster shot recommendation to all adults at its latest session after initially recommending boosters in particular to over 50-year-olds, particularly vulnerable people with chronic conditions regardless of their age, care home residents, family members of immunocompromised persons or vulnerable chronic patients and those exposed to the virus at their work.

Booster shots had been earlier also recommended to those who had been fully vaccinated with viral vector vaccines at least two months after they have been fully jabbed.

According to the National Institute of Public Health, more than 281,700 people in Slovenia have already received booster shots.

STA, 27 November 2021 - The government has made a few changes to Covid restrictions, including detailing rules for open-air Christmas fairs, which will have to be fenced off with separate entrances and exits.

The changed regulation, adopted by the government late on Friday, also provides that food and drinks at open-air stalls can be served provided that the largest number of customers allowed on the premises on the same time is clearly marked at the entrance.

Other provisions in that section of the regulation remain unchanged, which means that existing restrictions on the number of customers as well as on their being required to meet the reconvalescent-vaccinated-tested (PCT) rule still apply.

The changes come after Christmas fairs in some cities, including Ljubljana and Maribor, have already opened. While the area around the fair in Maribor is already fenced, Ljubljana will need to follow suit as well as the new measure applies from today.

Meanwhile, the PCT rule will no longer be required for customers accepting mail and package deliveries, except at post offices. The couriers and postal carriers will still need to meet the PCT requirement.

Other changes pertain to self-testing of school children and students, including one saying that the test counts as meeting the PCT rule in collective exercise of religious freedom.

Music school has been added to extra-curricular activities.

Self-testing at home has also been imposed for children who are placed in educational institutions because on the unsuitable conditions in their home environment.

The right to free screening with rapid-antigen tests is being limited to persons with temporary or permanent residence in Slovenia, those employed with employers based in Slovenia and diplomatic representatives to the country.

STA, 27 November 2021 - Travellers arriving in Slovenia from areas with the new coronavirus variant that the WHO has declared to be of concern face mandatory quarantine on arriving in Slovenia starting from Saturday under a decision taken by the government last night. Entry is banned to foreigners without a residence permit in Slovenia arriving from those areas.

The list of areas and countries with the new variant B.1.1.529, named Omicron by the World Health Organisation (WHO), is being published by the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ). Those are currently South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

Under the new government regulation, a 10-day quarantine will be imposed on arrivals residing in those countries or areas or visiting those countries or areas in the past 14 days before entering Slovenia.

The quarantine cannot be ended early and on the 11th day the quarantined persons need to take a PCR test. If the test is positive the same protocol applies as to all other persons who have tested positive.

Those who had been to the areas identified with high risk for the new variant in the 14 days before the new regulation came into force need to report by dialling the number 113. They will then be ordered to quarantine at home for 10 days.

According to the NIJZ, the new variant, first detected in South Africa and thought to be more infectious than those so far known, has not yet been detected in Slovenia.

STA, 26 November 2021- Due to a new Covid-19 variant detected in South Africa, the Slovenian Foreign Ministry advises Slovenians who are currently in South Africa to return home as soon as possible and monitor the situation, as increasingly many countries are introducing restrictions for passengers arriving from the area.

Passengers planning a trip to countries where the new B.1.1.529 variant of the virus has been detected are advised to postpone or cancel non-essential trips.

The Slovenian presidency of the Council of the EU called a meeting of the EU crisis response mechanism for this afternoon to agree on a joint response of members states to the new virus strain, the ministry said.

The situation with the new variant is being monitored, it added.

Some EU countries have already cancelled flights from the south of Africa because of the new strain and introduced additional measures for passengers entering the EU. Some have already banned entry to their country from the area for non-EU citizens and introduced an obligatory PCR test and a quarantine for their citizens.

STA, 24 November - Organisations representing employers and trade unions on the Economic and Social Council, the main industrial relations forum, have issued a joint call on Wednesday urging people to respect Covid-19 restrictions and get vaccinated.

Slovenia is in extremely difficult situation because of Covid-19, said the organisations, including the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS), the Chamber of Commerce (TZS), the Employers' Association and the ZSSS, Pergam, KS 90, KSJS and several other trade unions.

"We must realise that only responsible action by each individual and by all of us together can reduce the spread of infections and enable our life to return to normal," they wrote.

Higher vaccination rates can contribute the most to containing the spread of Covid-19, or at least faster recovery from the disease, and thus to relieving pressure on healthcare, which is on the edge of its capacities.

The employer associations and trade union thus urged people to be consistent in showing and checking the required documents on meeting the recovered, vaccinated, tested rule.

Companies should keep records on self-testing of employees and all citizens should be consistent in using protective masks, keeping a distance, hand sanitising and ventilating offices, they said, adding this was the only way to keep businesses running.

They warned though that government measures for preventing the spreading of Covid-19 must be clear, logical, sensible, proportionate and undiscriminating, and presented to the people on time and in a clear and understandable way.

STA, 24 November 2021 - During the past two weeks of heightened inspection, the Market Inspectorate has temporarily shut down nine shops and gas stations due to failures to check the Covid pass, bringing the total of such cases so far to 15.

In 19 cases, the inspectorate found failures to observe mask-wearing and implement the recovered-vaccinated-tested (PCT) rule among staff, said Slovenia's chief market inspector Martina Gašperlin, adding that such cases were a minority.

In the past two weeks, inspections were carried out at 1,200 venues, including some 260 over both weekends, with most of them being shops.

Minor irregularities were found in 265 cases, resulting in 183 warnings requiring the operators to remedy the situation. "It is important for us to give a warning and if things are remedied, that is fine by us," Gašperlin told Wednesday's Covid briefing.

In some cases, the infractions were not remedied despite a warning, so the inspectorate issued 20 fines, totalling just over EUR 83,200.

"The most frequent cases were that the taxable persons did not check the PCT condition, including twelve such cases at gas stations, three in clothing shops and five in other types of shops," she said.

In nine cases, the inspectors deemed that the irregularities posed such a risk to public health and people's lives that they imposed a temporary closure of the facility until the situation is remedied.

A total of 15 such decisions have been issued in the course of the enhanced supervision so far, mainly in cases where customers' Covid passes were not being checked, Gašperlin said, adding that in recent weeks adherence to the rules had improved.

STA, 23 November 2021 - Slovenia logged 3,394 new coronavirus cases for Monday as infections kept receding week-on-week for the fourth consecutive day. However, Covid-19 has claimed 23 more lives and ICU cases keep climbing, data released by the government show.

A total of 1,154 patients were hospitalised with Covid-19 this morning, eight fewer then yesterday. However, the number of those treated in intensive care increased by ten to 285.

The latter figure is just below the current Covid ICU capacity of 288 beds but the capacity is expected to be expanded.

With the daily count of newly confirmed infections dropping by 10% from the same day a week ago, the rolling 7-day average dropped further to 3,090, down by over 50 from the day before.

The cumulative 14-day incidence was still slightly up, by two to 2,125, and the estimated number of active cases rose by about 50 to almost 44,800, according to the National Institute of Public Health.

The PCR test positivity rate remains high at 46%.

Vaccination is progressing slowly, with 1,139,108 people or 54% of the population fully inoculated. This means 64% of adults or 75% of the over 50-year-olds.

According to the government, 242,219 people have received a booster shot.

Get all the latest data on covid and Slovenia

STA, 22 November 2021 - Slovenia's Education and Sport Inspectorate carried out 121 inspections in November to find 11 cases of irregularities in compliance with measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Chief Schools Inspector Simon Slokan said on Monday. One school was temporarily shut down for non-compliance.

Slokan reiterated that "the introduction of self-testing in schools is a specific situation that we have not seen before". Since the self-testing measure came into force last week, the inspectorate carried out 43 inspections and found major non-compliance in five cases.

"These five schools did not arrange self-testing for children, they failed to obtain parental consent, and did not properly arrange distance learning for children without consent," Slokan explained.

The inspectorate issued verbal warnings to those schools and urged them to take immediate action. They were later subjected to re-inspections, and it was mostly found that they have started addressing their issues.

Only one school failed to follow the inspectorate's warnings, and the inspectorate ordered by decree that the whole school switches to distance learning until 3 December or until irregularities are resolved.

The Education Ministry confirmed to the STA that the school in question was a private school in central Slovenia, but added that more information could not be disclosed.

Meanwhile, the inspectorate found that 38 out of 43 schools made excellent preparations for the implementation of the measures. Slokan also reiterated that head teachers and school staff are not the ones who set the rules, but have a responsibility to respect and implement them.

Threats, protests and unnecessary pressure from parents are only bringing unrest - with the children feeling the brunt of it, said Slokan, reiterating his call for parents to be held accountable. He believes that the common goal of everybody is quality education.

"The inspectorate will continue to ensure that everyone entering a kindergarten or school complies with all required measures, because this is the only way to ensure a safe and stimulating space for all and that lessons can continue to take place in schools," concluded Slokan.

STA, 19 November 2021 - The government has proposed a compensation scheme for those who have suffered serious health damage as a result of a Covid-19 vaccine. "The introduction of liability for damages is key to maintaining confidence in the vaccines and ensuring the effective implementation of the national vaccination programme," Health Minister Poklukar said on Friday.

As is the case with all medicines, vaccines can cause serious side effects in very rare cases, but the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks of serious consequences.

The government is therefore proposing compensation for people who have suffered damage to their health as a result of using provisionally authorised medicinal products against Covid-19.

However, damage resulting from professional inaccuracy in vaccination or from inadequate vaccine quality will not be covered, Health Minister Poklukar explained at Friday's press conference.

Compensation would apply in cases where vaccination or treatment results in permanent and serious health consequences. A special commission would assess eligibility.

In accordance with the infectious diseases act, compensation of EUR 60,000 would be paid to those who suffer a serious and permanent reduction in their vital functions after vaccination.

The parents of a child or the spouse or civil partner of a person who died after vaccination would receive EUR 10,000, while underage children of a person who died after vaccination would receive EUR 20,000.

The proposal for the compensation scheme was included in the draft act on additional measures against the Covid-19 epidemic and its consequences, which was confirmed by the government today.

The legislation stipulates that the Health Ministry should be able to order institutions within the public health network to prioritise treatment according to needs.

The financing of remote medical treatment and the option of using sick leave without a certificate of authorised absence will be extended, until 28 February 2022.

The government also proposes a more detailed regulation of the recovered-vaccinated-tested protocol (PCT), rules on wearing masks and other measures to control the epidemic.

Poklukar said that the proposed act would enable government by decree in situations like the present, when there is a serious risk of a rapid spread of an infectious disease and some issues are not covered by existing legislation.

STA, 18 November 2021 - All three Slovenian public universities and one private, and an association of independent research institutes have issued a joint call for Covid-19 vaccination. They stressed the importance of a joint battle against the Covid-19 epidemic in today's press release.

Slovenian universities that are members of the Slovenian Rectors' Conference - the universities of Ljubljana, Maribor, Primorska and the private university of Nova Gorica - and the Coordination of Independent Research Institutes, which includes the ZRC SAZU research centre, the Chemistry Institute, Jožef Stefan Institute, and other institutions, urged people to trust science and use credible sources when looking for information about the epidemic and vaccination.

Vaccines are a key scientific achievement and have so far saved more lives than any medicine. "They eradicated a number of dangerous, deadly diseases such as polio, measles and smallpox. Even before the coronavirus vaccines saved more than five lives every minute thus preventing up to three million deaths a year."

A healthy individual can protect other person's health, the universities and institutes said, urging people to strive for common safety and health. "Vaccination significantly increases our chances on this path," they added.

They also called for respecting measures to prevent the spreading of the virus, pointing to the medical staff dealing with the overwhelming number of Covid-19 patients.